[2][3][4] The bridge is decorated with the seals representing the original 13 colonies of the US and that of Allegheny county.

[5] Erected between 1919 and late 1924,[6] and officially opened on December 29, 1924,[7][8] the Washington Crossing Bridge was originally built to accommodate two lanes of traffic and one streetcar line.

[10] The bridge received its name because it is located at a historically significant site pertaining to George Washington's military career.

[11][12] In 1753, then-Major Washington was dispatched to give French forces an ultimatum to negotiate for the return of the lands that today make up Western Pennsylvania to the British or to prepare for a military strike.

Crossing the Allegheny on a wooden raft, Washington was nearly killed when his vessel overturned at this site.