Pan-American Exposition Sights - Then & Now

Part III: Lincoln Parkway Bridge


Looking north from Lincoln Parkway, Pan-American Exposition. 1901.

Exposition planners sited the Exposition in the sparsely built north Buffalo area and included the Park and its lake
in the Exposition grounds. The existing Lincoln Parkway bridge piers were decorated with temporary plaster sculpture of
lions, above. Rising 149 feet above the trees is the Exposition's Triumphal Bridge, with its massive pylons, each 40 x 50 feet.
This bridge was intended to communicate the majesty of the United States and each was crowded with statues, bas reliefs,
and inscriptions ( e.g. "Freedom is but the first lesson in self-governent"). Crowned with rearing equestrian statues by
Karl Bitter, this entrance to the Exposition dwarfed pedestrians, as seen here.

The same view in 2006

The Lincoln Parkway bridge divides the North Bay from Delaware Park Lake. It is used today as an entrance ramp to the
Scajaquada Expressway. The bridge piers have remained empty of statuary since 1901.