Photographs of the Bridges
Bladensburg Waterfront Park, near Washington, DC
The Bladensburg Park Pedestrian Bridge at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park is located only about one mile north of the Maryland-District boundary near the confluence of the Northwest and Northeast Branches of the Anacostia River. The bridge, constructed in 2006, serves a critical function in connecting the entire Anacostia Trail system in Washington, DC, to the regional trail system in the Maryland suburbs. The bridge consists of two spans crossing the river and the adjacent marsh. The main span over the river is supported by a superstructure arch made of cor-ten steel, and the part of the bridge over the marsh is a straight steel girder span. The two spans are at different orientations, so there is an angle in the middle of the bridge which, along with the superstructure arch, gives the bridge some visual appeal. The bridge is about ten feet wide, 400 feet long, and fifteen feet above the river. There are no prominent sites visible from the bridge, although waterbirds, such as cormorants, can be seen resting on the tops of abandoned pylons of a former dock in the marsh.
The original Bladensburg Bridge, constructed prior to 1770, was the focus of the Battle of Bladensburg in the War of 1812. After the Americans had destroyed the capital of Upper Canada, York (now Toronto), in 1814, the British invaded the Chesapeake Bay, landing their troops at Benedict on the Patuxent River southeast of the District. Both the Americans and the British rushed to the bridge, where the British defeated the Americans in a battle a short distance west of the river at the current location of Fort Lincoln Cemetery. After entering Washington and burning both the White House and the Capitol building, the British retreated back over the bridge, and proceeded to attempt the attack on Baltimore that resulted in the penning of the Star Spangled Banner by District resident Francis Scott Key.
I have provided a detailed description of the Battle of Bladensburg, as well as the important role of the pedestrian bridge in connecting regional bike trails systems, in my new book, Bridges of Washington, DC: A History and Guide.
