Bridge at Little Falls of the Potomac River, above Georgetown

Description

Watercolor on paper drawing of "Bridge at Little Falls of the Potomac River, above Georgetown", 1797, from the Latrobe Sketchbooks, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. This scene shows is taken from near water level of the Potomac River at Little Falls. There are a few houses and structures on the left, and a high hill in the distance. The bridge features several stone abutments and wooden cross sections that go across the Potomac and the right side of the drawing. Little Falls is the place on the river where Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia meet. The bridge featured is called Chain Bridge, which was a covered wooden bridge completed on July 3, 1797. It rotted and collapsed by 1804 and a replacement of the same design burned around 1805. Numerous bridges have been built in the same position since then.