Ambitious Failure: Chain Bridge, the First Bridge Across the Potomac River

The first bridge that spanned the Potomac River was a wooden toll bridge built in 1797 just below Little Falls, the Potomac s head of navigation. Over the decades eight bridges have spanned the river at that site. It was the third bridge, a chain suspension bridge, from which Chain Bridge received its name. The Little Falls location was selected because the river is very narrow at that point.

Georgetown merchants were hopeful that the bridge would divert Virginia s inland trade away from their commercial competitor, Alexandria, and the farmers and planters would bring their goods into Georgetown.

This is the story of investors, and later the government, who continually poured money into a bridge which was probably built at the wrong site. A location near the Three Sisters Islands was often examined for a bridge, but it was continually rejected because the river was wider at that point and the cost would be much greater than if the bridge at Little Falls were repaired or replaced.

It is the story of Georgetown s struggle to maintain its independence as a separate entity. Georgetown merchants believed that their economic survival depended upon maintaining a bridge above their town, and later, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, or it would eventually be swallowed up by the expanding Federal City. In the long run, Georgetown did lose its battle for survival when, under the District Territorial Act of 1871, the separate municipalities within the District of Columbia were folded into a single entity. However, the Chain Bridge survived; but at what cost? Ambitious Failure?