Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge significant event groundbreaking
History
President Franklin D. Roosevelt presided over the ground-breaking ceremony for the bridge in 1938. Known as the Potomac River Bridge when opened in December 1940, the bridge was renamed in 1967 for Harry W. Nice (1877–1941) who served as governor of Maryland from 1935 to 1939.
The bridge was the first south of Washington, D.C. to provide a highway link between Maryland and Virginia. In October 2018, the name of retiring state Senator Thomas M. Middleton was added to the bridge, making it officially the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton Bridge.In March 2020, all-electronic tolling was implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with tolls payable through E-ZPass or Video Tolling, which uses automatic license plate recognition. All-electronic tolling was made permanent in August 2020.