[10] The following year, The New York Times reported that a contract had been signed and construction would "speedily commence" on the "Hudson Highland Suspension Bridge" between Fort Clinton and Anthony's Nose.

The intent was to carry a railroad toward Derby, Connecticut, to supply coal and iron for industry in the lower Naugatuck Valley.

[citation needed] In 1871, a board of engineers had been selected to work on the bridge, including Horatio Allen, George B. McClellan, Edward W. Serrell, and Quincy Adams Gillmore.

[14] In March 1922 through a bill introduced by C. Ernest Smith, the state legislature authorized creation of the private Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company to complete the project.

[15] A $4.5 million bond issue was completed in April of that year through the Harriman banking and brokerage firm.

[citation needed] Ownership was transferred to the New York State Bridge Authority on September 26, 1940, and the toll was reduced to a flat rate of 50 cents per automobile.

[20] In 1982 the bridge and its then-abandoned original toll house several miles away on the Peekskill approach road, Routes 6 and 202, were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

[8] In 2019, the bridge authority announced that tolls on its five Hudson River crossings would increase each year beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023.

On May 1, 2021, the toll for passenger cars traveling eastbound on the Mid-Hudson Bridge was $1.75 in cash, $1.45 for E-ZPass users.

In addition to emerging as an environmental hazard during that span, the paste was also prone to drying out and cracking after a few years, creating an ongoing maintenance task.

New York State Bridge Authority chief engineer William Moreau expressed hope that the new material may lengthen the life of the cables, and lower the need for inspection and maintenance.