Bridges of Washington, D.C.: A History & Guide

Explore the history of our nation’s capital through this history of its bridges.

In the late 1700s, the first bridges, now completely gone, connected the new Federal City to the outside world. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, more and bigger crossings arose to support industry, allow the expansion of suburbs, commemorate cultural and civic leaders, and enhance the aesthetics of the District’s waterfronts and parks. Although the city abandoned civic-minded, commemorative, and monumental constructions for utilitarian highway monoliths in the mid-twentieth century, a recent renaissance has seen a welcome shift to walkability and beauty instead of brute utility.

Using the city’s bridges as an index of the times, author and D.C. native Bob Dover tracks the growth, decay, and rebirth of the District from the 1750s to today.

Bob Dover is a geologist with thirty-six years of experience in environmental impact assessment. A Washington, D.C., native, he is a graduate of Beloit College and the University of North Carolina. His primary geologic interest is the role of geology and topography in influencing human settlement patterns, architecture, and historical events. In 2022, he published Bridgespotting: A Guide to Bridges that Connect People, Places, and Times, a book that examined uses of bridges for tourism and recreation. He is a contributor of bridge photos and documentation to the historicbridges.org website and an active participant in the Vermont Covered Bridge Society. Recently retired, he lives just outside of Washington in Columbia, Maryland.