About this property
The Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, originally called and still also known as the Henry Avenue Bridge, is a stone and concrete bridge that carries Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a two-ribbed, open-spandrel, reinforced concrete arch bridge with one principal span. It was designed in 1927 by Paul Philippe Cret, a nationally acclaimed Philadelphia architect, in collaboration with Frank M. Masters, engineered by Ralph Modjeski and Clement E. Chase. It was completed in May 1932 at a cost of $1,648,775. It was designed to accommodate a lower deck, never constructed, to be used by trolleys or a subway extension to Roxborough. Shortly after its completion, it was renamed the Wissahickon Memorial Bridge and was dedicated to the people of Philadelphia's northwest neighborhoods who served in World War I. The bridge is 333 feet long, with a main span of 288 feet. Its 60-ft-wide roadway carries two lanes of traffic in each direction. The roadway is approximately 170 feet above the ground. The bridge was repaved and repaired between 2008 and late 2010. The bridge has been known as a suicide bridge since its opening. Beginning in 1941 for an unknown duration of time a policeman patrolled the span, questioning all pedestrians walking the bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The bridge was featured as a filming location in the 1981 film Blow Out starring John Travolta and directed by Brian De Palma. List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-464, "Henry Avenue Bridge" Henry Avenue Bridge data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Wissahickon Memorial Bridge
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Questions about this property
When was Wissahickon Memorial Bridge listed on the National Register?
Wissahickon Memorial Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1988.
What type of historic resource is Wissahickon Memorial Bridge?
Wissahickon Memorial Bridge is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Wissahickon Memorial Bridge?
The period of significance for Wissahickon Memorial Bridge is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Wissahickon Memorial Bridge?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Wissahickon Memorial Bridge will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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