The Hawthorne Bridge, the oldest public bridge across the Willamette River, opened on December 19, 1910. This week a special exhibit opens to celebrate the centennial of Portland’s oldest downtown bridge and the era when the city’s first bridges were built. “The Bridges That Built Portland” was created by the PDX Bridge Festival. The free exhibit will be at the AIA Portland Center for Architecture at 403 NW 11th Ave. from December 2-14, open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
Displays in the exhibit describe the first ferries and bridges that connected east and west Portland, starting with the Stark Street Ferry in 1855 and the first Willamette River bridge, the 1887 Morrison Bridge. The early wooden bridges led to the more ambitious Hawthorne Bridge, which Portland voters approved in a 1907 ballot measure. Its vertical lift design was new for its time. Today the Hawthorne is the oldest working vertical lift bridge in the country and possibly in the world.
The exhibit includes an interactive multimedia display on the history of Portland’s bridges and images from the 2010 bridge festival, including the fabric and light installation on the Hawthorne Bridge.
PDX Bridge Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating Portland’s bridges. Multnomah County maintains the Hawthorne Bridge. For Hawthorne Bridge information, visit web.multco.us/bridges.