Although the Taft Bridge which connects the Woodley Park and Kalorama neighborhoods remains an impressive structure today, it was truly a masterpiece when it was built over one hundred years ago. For starters, it's still often referenced as the largest unreinforced concrete structure on Earth. It took engineer George S. Morison, architect Edward Pearce Casey and their team ten years to finish the bridge before it opened as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge in 1907. It was also referred to as the Million Dollar Bridge, although its pricetag actually came in below $850K. It wasn't renamed as the Taft Bridge until 1931. Today the Perry Lions (named for their sculptor Roland Hinton Perry) guarding the bridge still greet motorists, pedestrians and cyclists going up and down one of the city's busier state-named streets. Check out the early photos in the gallery from the 1900s (as well as one current photo) and marvel at how Rock Creek Park really hasn't changed that much (although some of the background landscape of Kalorama certainly has).
· Taft Bridge [Wikipedia]
· The Million-Dollar Bridge [Streets of Washington]
· All Looking Back Posts [CDC]
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