On May 26, 1896, 143 people crammed onto Streetcar No. 16 to cross the Point Ellice Bridge. It was Queen Victoria’s birthday and they were on their way to attend the celebrations at Macaulay Point Park in Esquimalt. They never made it.
The middle span of the bridge collapsed under the weight and the streetcar plunged into the Upper Harbour landing on its right side. Fifty-five people were killed that day, most of whom had been on the streetcar, but also some who were just on the bridge.
The bodies of the victims were laid out on the lawn of the Point Ellice house and those of its neighbours.
New Westminster photographer Stephen Joseph Thompson, just happened to be in Victoria that day and he had his camera with him. He snapped a photo and quickly realized that he had a business opportunity and ran an ad in the Vancouver News-Advertiser the next day.
According to the British Columbia Encyclopedia the Point Ellice Bridge Disaster was the worst accident in Canadian transit history. The cause was attributed to poor bridge maintenance, an overcrowded car and poor safety standards.
Most people know it as the Bay Street Bridge now—it’s been there since 1957, and it’s the sixth bridge to span the Upper Harbour.
Top photo: Point Ellice Bridge disaster May 26, 1896. Stephen Joseph Thompson photo. Courtesy CVA Out-P247.1
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