Bookmarks

• 
  McCarthy Album 11, Photograph 242

  Remove

  Caption: "Longfellow Bridge, Boston, Mass. Sept. 5, 1934." The Longfellow Bridge spans the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge. Originally called the Cambridge Bridge, it replaced a wood structure called the West Boston Bridge that had been constructed in 1793. This wood bridge was unable to handle large volumes of traffic or the introduction of street cars, so a new bridge was built in the early twentieth century. Opened in 1906 as the Cambridge Bridge, the name was changed in 1927 to the Longfellow Bridge in honor of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is colloquially known as the Salt and Pepper Bridge, as its central towers are reminiscent in shape of salt and pepper shakers.

  Date: 9/5/1934