Taft Bridge
historic bridge in Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.; carries Connecticut Ave NW over Rock Creek gorge
The Taft Bridge (also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge) is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Built in 1906, it carries Connecticut Avenue over the Rock Creek gorge, including Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. It is named after former United States president and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft, and sits to the southwest of the Duke Ellington Bridge.
Four statues of lions by sculptor Roland Hinton Perry, known as the Perry Lions, are placed in pairs at both ends of the bridge. On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The Classical Revival bridge was built from 1897 to 1907. It was designed by engineer George S. Morison and architect Edward Pearce Casey. Construction was overseen by U.S. Army engineer Henry C. Newcomer. It is an arch bridge with unreinforced concrete arches and a reinforced concrete deck. The total length of the bridge between its abutments is 325.5 meters (1,068 ft). It has been called an "engineering tour de force" and the largest unreinforced concrete structure in the world.
The public source identifies “Taft Bridge” as historic bridge in Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.; carries Connecticut Ave NW over Rock Creek gorge. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Taft, Bridge and historic.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Taft Bridge”, the useful work is to connect “historic bridge in Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.; carries Connecticut Ave NW over Rock Creek gorge” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2428786. VIAF identifies the subject as 315170991. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007006443. Authority coordinates are 38.922, -77.050. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1906, 2003, 1897 and 1907.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Taft Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.