It is the 10th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.7 miles (9.2 km) upstream from it.

[3] It is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (ID#3093) [4] The bridge was re-lamped in 2012.

[5][6] The bridge's electric motor was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, requiring replacement.

[8] The swing bridges of Newark are expected to open as much as 10 times a day during a massive clean-up of the Passaic starting in 2019 to allow barges to move contaminated sludge dredged from the river bottom raising concerns about their reliability.

In 1790 the state legislature decided that "public good would be served by a 64 feet (20 m) wide road from Paulus Hook to the Newark Courthouse".