Anderson Memorial Bridge, Cambridge, MA, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

Anderson Memorial Bridge is a brick arch bridge, completed in 1913, that crosses the Charles River at the edge of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA. It was a gift from a wealthy couple, and it stands beside Harvard's Weld Boathouse, so the spot is a good place to watch rowers on the water.

The story behind it

The bridge was built by Isabel Weld Perkins and her husband Larz Anderson, who named it in memory of his father. Its arch was made high enough, in the words recorded by the route creators, "to admit the passage of all sorts of pleasure craft". That was a practical choice for a river already busy with small boats.

Next to it sits Weld Boathouse, which was also paid for by heirs of the 19th-century magnate William Fletcher Weld. George Walker Weld funded a first boathouse on this bank in 1889. The building you see now went up in 1906 and 1907 with money he left in his will, to a design by Peabody and Stearns. It is still used by Harvard's crews, so rowers have pushed off from this bank for more than a century.

What to look for

• Look at the brick arch from the riverbank and notice how high it springs above the water, which was designed so that boats could pass beneath it.
• Find the long, low roofline of Weld Boathouse at the foot of the bridge, one of the best known buildings on the Cambridge side of the river.
• Watch the water for rowing shells and coaching launches, especially on a calm morning.
• Look along the riverbank paths and parkland, where the Charles opens into a wide view of the water and the Boston side.

Tips for your visit

• Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes to look at the bridge and boathouse and to stroll the riverbank.
• Go at dawn or in the early morning if you want to hear the oars and see crews heading out.
• The boathouse is a working rowing facility, so enjoy it from outside and do not count on going in.
• Harvard Square is a short walk away, which makes it easy to combine the river with cafes, bookshops and the Harvard campus.

See it on a quest

Ghost Hunt in Cambridge, MA passes this stretch of the river. You reach the bridge on foot as one stop on a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in what is in front of you. It suits anyone who likes their sightseeing with a bit of mystery. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like, with no guide and no set departure time.