Hope Memorial Bridge

Crossing the Cuyahoga River on the western edge of downtown Cleveland, the Hope Memorial Bridge is one of the most quietly spectacular Art Deco structures in the Midwest. Completed in nineteen thirty-two and originally called the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, it carries four massive pylons, each guarded by a pair of stone figures known as the Guardians of Traffic. Sculptor Henry Hering carved each guardian clutching a different vehicle: a covered wagon, a stagecoach, a nineteen-thirties automobile, tracing the full arc of American land transport in stone.

The bridge takes its current name from William Henry Hope, a Cleveland stonemason and the father of comedian Bob Hope, who grew up in this city before finding fame in Hollywood. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen seventy-six and remains one of Cleveland's most beloved landmarks.