| Bridge Name: | Anderson Memorial Bridge |
| Crosses: | Charles River |
| Locale: | Cambridge, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts |
| Maint: | Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
| Designer: | Wheelwright, Haven and Hoyt |
| Design: | arch bridge |
| Material: | reinforced concrete faced with red brick |
| Begin: | 1913 |
| Complete: | 1915 |
| Preceded: | Great Bridge (Cambridge) (1662) |
| Coordinates: | 42.3689°N -71.1232°W |
Anderson Memorial Bridge (commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) connects Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, and Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site of the Great Bridge built in 1662, the first structure to span the Charles River. It brings Boston traffic (from North Harvard Street) into Harvard Square (via JFK Street) and was finished in 1915.[1]
Often assumed to be named after Larz Anderson, the bridge was actually built by him as a memorial to his father, Nicholas Longworth Anderson. To do so, Anderson was helped by the huge family fortune of his wife, Isabel Weld Perkins. According to the Metropolitan Park Commission of 1913:
The bridge was designed by the architectural firm of Wheelwright, Haven and Hoyt and completed under the direction of John R. Rablin, chief engineer for the Metropolitan District Commission.[1]
From 2012 to 2016 MassDOT rehabilitated the Anderson Memorial Bridge at a cost of $25million.. The project repaired the arches and replaced the parapets, sidewalks, lighting, and the bridge deck. The bridge now has three lanes of traffic (two northbound and one southbound) and one bicycle lane.[2] [3] [4]
Anderson Memorial Bridge is constructed of reinforced concrete accented by red brick. The bridge's spandrel walls and panels are fashioned to give the illusion of rough-hewn stone. It has a Georgian Revival design with neoclassical influences that visually connect it to the other bridges that span the Charles as well as the nearby buildings of Harvard University.[1] Architectural author Douglas Shand-Tucci writes:
The bridge stands next to the Weld Boathouse and was designed with "a high enough arch to admit the passage of all sorts of pleasure craft." It may be noted that both the bridge and the boathouse (built in 1906) were funded by heirs to the fortune of 19th century magnate William Fletcher Weld.[5]
Anderson Memorial Bridge is the site of Quentin Compson's suicide in William Faulkner's classic novel The Sound and the Fury. This is commemorated by a small brass plaque, the size of one brick, that is located on the brick wall of the eastern (Weld Boathouse) side of the bridge, just north of the middle of the bridge span, about eighteen inches from the ground in a small alcove. It reads:
"QUENTIN COMPSON
Drowned in the odour of honeysuckle.
1891-1910"