Edmund B. Hayes
| Brig. Gen. Edmund B. Hayes | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
January 18, 1849 Farmington, Maine |
| Died | October 19, 1923 (aged 75) Buffalo, New York |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Dartmouth College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Business magnate |
| Known for | Union Bridge Company, Lackawanna Steel Company, Buffalo Bolt Company |
Edmund B. Hayes, also known as General Edmund Hayes, (1849–1923) was an engineer and businessman who built bridges and manufactured autos. He was a pioneer investor in the development of electrical power from Niagara Falls. His company installed the Steel Arch Bridge over the Niagara River and made the first power plant on the Canadian side of the river.
Edmund B. Hayes was born in Farmington, Maine in 1849. He attended Dartmouth College in intermittently because he needed to earn sufficient tuition by working at farms or teaching. After completing two years, he transferred to MIT, graduating in 1873 with a civil engineering degree.
After short stints with the "Passaic Bridge Company" in New Jersey and the Erie Railroad, he came to Buffalo, New York to join George S. Field, a friend who would later become his brother-in-law, at his "Morrison, Field Bridge Company." In the 1870s and 1880s, with the expansion of railroads across the U.S., many bridge building companies combined to create larger companies and extend manufacturing facilities. The company Hayes worked for became the "Central Bridge Company." In 1883, Hayes was instrumental in persuading the Michigan Railroad that a competitor's design for a bridge spanning the Niagara River in Niagara Falls would not stand the strain of train traffic. He proposed that the railroad use his cantilever design instead. His design would be the first steel span cantilever bridge across the Niagara and one of the largest steel span bridges constructed at that time.
In 1884, the company combined with two other small bridge companies to form the Union Bridge Company, with Edmund Hayes, Stewart Maurice and Field as part owners. He and Field supervised an 8-acre manufacturing site (at the foot of Hamburg St. in Buffalo) where 200-300 skilled workers manufactured 15,000 tons of material for bridges that was shipped around the world. The company also installed the Steel Arch Bridge over the Niagara River and made the first power plant on the Canadian side of the river. The company also built the Poughkeepsie Bridge over the Hudson River in 1888, a bridge that has been saved from demolition by transformation into the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park.
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