Frederick, Maryland, 1912: Jug Bridge Over the Monocacy River
Motorcyclist waving as he crosses Jug Bridge. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1912
The Jug Bridge was built over the Monacacy River in 1808 at a location a few miles east of Frederick, Maryland. The bridge consisted of two 65-foot spans. The bridge’s name derived from a stone bottle that was situated at the northeastern end of the bridge. There was a legend that an Irish mason accidentally sealed a jug of whiskey inside the stone bottle. Today, the stone bottle sits in a roadside park west of the river.
The bridge collapsed suddenly on March 3, 1942, creating a nightmarish detour for through traffic. A replacement bridge was opened just south of the jug bridge. Click the photos to get a better look at the huge demijohn that guards the entrance.
Motorcyclists crossing Jug Bridge. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1912
With the new alignment across the Monacacy River, the stone bottle was dismantled and moved to an interpretive park high on the western bank of river valley. By the way, the bottle was empty – there was no jug of whiskey.
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Reed Brothers Dodge History (1915-2012) by Jeanne Gartner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915 – 2012 
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