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Third Street Bridge: Man Walks Off Bridge (1879)
Five men have walked off bridge in recent months!

Courtesy of Alan Flood (August 2003)

Bay City Chronicle & Tribune - December 6, 1879. (Page: 4) OFF THE BRIDGE INTO THE RIVER. Another case of a man walking off the Third street bridge occurred last night at about eight o’clock. The unfortunate person was a middle-aged man named Patrick Cody who was coming to this city from the west side. The swing had been turned to allow the tug Quniby and a lighter loaded with brick to pass through. Cody not noticing the fact, kept on walking after he had passed the toll house and into the river he went. In falling he struck head foremost on the abutment below which rendered him insensible when he touched the water. Gen. Hill, the towman, heard the splash and jumping into the river caught the man and swam with him to the piles where he hung until assistance arrived. Cody was taken to Dr. Newkirk’s office where his clothes were removed and his body rubbed furiously to aid the circulation of his blood. Both eyes were blackened by the fall and it is thought his nose is broken. After remaining at the doctor’s office for a time he was taken to the Minahan House and a good bed provided. The appearances are that he will entirely recover, though inflamation threatens to settle upon his lungs. It was rumored on the streets shortly after the occurrence that Cody had been foully dealt with, but when he came to he said that he walked off. This makes the fifth man which has walked off the bridge into the water within a few months.