Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-02
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.


Of Capital Improvements, which includes
palisade drives on both the Maryland
and Virginia banks Of the Potomac
River to Great Falls, hard by Washing
| tons first engineering feats. and the
program of much-needed bridge con-
struction in the National Capital re-
Gently emphasized by Representative
william p. Holiday of Illinois, the in
coming chairman of the subcommittee
on the District of Columbia budget, we
have been asked to write something l.,
this column about historic Washington
bridges.
| A bridge was built across the Poto-
| mac Rive at Little Falls in 1897, which
| was destroyed in 1904. Another bridge
w4s erected shortly thereafter, but this
bridge was also destroyed. Four years
later q bridge supported by chains was
built. This bridge, which gave the
name Chain Bridge" to the veteran
structure on the important highway to
Virginia, west OF the once famous Por5
Of Georgetown, was destroyed after
| about two years.
On February 20. 1911, Congress au-
| thorized the directors Of the George
| town Potomac Bridge Co. to rebuild
| the bridge, and empowered that COM
pany TO call q general meeting of the
| stockholders with view to leyying an
assessment for rebuilding the bridge.
Up until 1888 these structures were
under the control Of private parties.
On March 2. 1888, Congress appro-
priated $4,000 to aid the citizens Of
the then existing bridge over Little
Falls, and the acts of the Georgetown
Board of Aldermen and Common Coun-
! ell, approved March IL, 1888, provided
! for the purchase of the bridge and for
declaring the same free. The acts Of
these boards, approved March 20, 1898.
did declare the Little Falls Bridge and
| the road leading thereto and thence
onward to the District line, free.
1t should be noted that at that time
the approaches to the bridge and the
were in Federal territory, as 1t was
not until 1846 that an act OF Congress
provided for the retrocession to the
State of Virginia Of that portion Of
the District OF Columbia formerly coded
by that State.
The act Of Congress approved March
3, 1853, making appropriations for the
civil and diplomatic expenses Of the
Government for the year ending June
30. 1854, appropriated $4,000 to be
President of the United states for
the construction of a bridge across
the Potomac River at Little Falls.
The act of Congress approved June
10, 1872, appropriated 100000 for re-
building the then existing bridge and
provided that said bridge shall be re-
built as a substantial iron structure
upon plans TO be approved by the Chief
Of Engineers of the Army and under
his supervision. The bridge so au-
thorized was constructed under a con-
tract between the United States and
the Phoenix Bridge Co. in 1874, and
is now known as the Chain Bridge"
The act of Congress making ap-
preparations for the sundry civil ex-
penseS Of the Government for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1880. approved
March 3. 1879, carried an appropriation
OF 1900 for the care of the Benning
Anacostia and Chain Bridges, and an
appropriation of $2,500 for replank-
ing and painting the Chain Bridge
since which time the District of Co
lumbia has contributed toward its
maintenance. 1t is assumed that from
1854 to 1880 this structure was main
tanned solely as a Federal. bridge.
Cabin John Bridge one of the most
! noteworthy achievements Of stone
masonry In the world. is on another
extremely attractive drive from WASH
ington to Great Falls on the Maryland
side Of the Potomac River
/ This, bridge, was constructed for the
purpose OF carrying across the deep
raviI1e of Cabin Johns Run the acuIie-
duct which furnishes the National Capt.
tai and suburban area with its match
less water supply, drawn from the Po-
! tomac River above Great Falls
! All surveys. projects and estimates
for the Capitals water system, includ-
ing Cabin John Bridge. were prepared
by Capt. M. c. Meigs. The actual work
was begun In 1857 and was supervised
by Jefferson Davis, then Secretary OF
War and later President of the Con-
! federacy. On December 5. 1853, the
| water was turned into the aoueduct
| but the bridge itself was not completed
| for use by the public until the following
year. The present parapet walls, con-
structed in 1928, are of red sand
stone from the quarries at Seneca. To-
| Gated about z miles farther north on
the Potomac River.
The total cost Of the bridge was
$254.000. 1t is $50 feet long. with a
single span Of $50 feet and a rise OF
5726 feet. The conduit it carries is
| 0 feet in diameter. The cut stone arch
Is of Quincy. Mass granite
On the south side of this bridge
about halfway up the curve of the
arch. are two inscriptions. The eastern
one reads: Union arch; chief engineer
Capt. Montgomery c. Meigs, u. s.
Corps of Engineers. Este perpetuum -
The western inscription reads: Wash
ington Aqueduct. begun AID. 1853;
President of the United States, Frank
lin Pierce; Secretary of War, Jefferson
Davis; building finished AID. 1861;
President of the United States, Abraham
Lincoln; Secretary of War, Simon Cam
eron." At the outbreak of the Civil Wal
the name Of Jefferson Davis was erased
from this inscription, and the space re-
manned blank until the name was re-
stored by act Of Congress during the
second Roosevelt administration.
The names of Cabin John Bridge and
Cabin John Run are popularity attrib-
uted to a hermit fisherman, Captain, OF
Cabin, John, who Is said to have for
merly lived at the junction of Cabin
John Run with Bowie Run. Romantic
imaginations have evolved q tradition
identifying this obscure hermit as the
husband Of the female stranger" whose
tombstone in Alexandria still stands az
q memorial to an unsolved mystery.
Moral Practice Needed. =.
| From the Lynchburg News.