DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Memorial Bridge

Purpose:

Memorial to the Sailors and Soldiers of New Hampshire and Maine who served in The Great War (WWI)

Location: (Street, Park, GPS)

Spans the Piscataqua River, connects Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME

 

N 43D04.698' W070D45.173'

 

Date Installed:

Designed in 1919, dedicated and opened in 1923

Date or Era Referenced:

1917-1919, World War I

Description:

The Portsmouth approach to the bridge is highly decorative. An open winged eagle perched atop the center of the bridge. Just below the eagle spans a large horizontal plaque, with circular shields bookending the plaque. One shield is emblazoned with the image of the American eagle, the other with a naval vessel. Framing these images are intricate carved flourishes including vines and a remembrance banner. There is also a dedication plaque at approximately eye level.

Wording:

Large horizontal plaque: “Memorial to the Sailors and Soldiers of New Hampshire Who Participated in the World War 1917-1919”

Dedication plaque: “World War Memorial Bridge erected 1920-1923 by the United States-Maine-New Hampshire, Building Commission Secretaries of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Edwin Denby. Governors of Maine Carl Elias Milliken, Frederick Hale Parkhurst, Percival Proctor Baxter, Governors of New Hampshire John Henry Bartlett, and as commissioner under Albert Oscar Brown, Fred Herbert Brown. Board of Engineers Ernest Henry Brownell, Walter Henry Norris, William Albert Grover. Preliminary Committee William M Ayer, Philip A Deering, Frank A Peabody, Jacob M Callinger, Henry W Keyes, Calvin Pace.”

 

Affiliations

NH and ME State Departments of Transportation

Summary:

  • At the entrances of both sides of the bridge each state installed monuments and markers.
  • The Portsmouth side of the bridge’s entrance is highly adorned with emblems of military honor.
  • An open winged eagle perched atop the center of the bridge. Just below the eagle spans a large horizontal plaque “Memorial to the Sailors and Soldiers of New Hampshire Who Participated in the World War 1917-1919”, with circular shields bookending the plaque. One shield is emblazoned with the image of the American eagle, the other with a naval vessel. Framing these images are intricate carved flourishes including vines and a remembrance banner. There is also a dedication plaque at approximately eye level.
  • In 2009 the bridge was listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places.
  • According to the NH Department of Transportation the Memorial Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Summer 2011 the bridge was permanently closed to automobile traffic, remaining open to pedestrians and cyclists only.
  • Summer 2011 the NH Department of Transportation placed a notice that the bridge is available to be purchased through a bidding process.
  • The sale of the bridge does not include any of the plaques or historic adornments.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.