Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine

The Bridge of Lions is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine. A part of State Road A1A, it connects downtown St. Augustine to Anastasia Island across Matanzas Bay.

A pair of copies of the marble Medici lions guard the bridge, begun in 1925 and completed in 1927. They were removed in February 2005 and returned in March 2011. These lion statues were a gift of Dr. Andrew Anderson (1839–1924), the builder of the Markland House, who spent the last decade of his life putting works of art in public places in the Ancient City. The statues were his last gift, and he did not live long enough to see them installed. He had them made by the Romanelli Studios in Florence, Italy, which a decade earlier had provided him with smaller versions which he displayed on the front steps at Markland. The Medici lions are also known for the copies placed in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Prior to the Bridge of Lions in 1925, there was a wooden bridge, called simply, "The Bridge to Anastasia Island" or "South Beach railroad bridge". It was built in 1895, and after a major renovation in 1904, the bridge could accommodate a trolley. The span contained no rise, and had a movable opening for ship traffic, and charged a toll for transit.

The old bridge frequently broke down, leading to calls for its replacement over the years. The man considered the "Father of the Bridge of Lions" was Henry Rodenbaugh, the vice president and bridge expert for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway. In the early 1920s he organized the bond issue to finance the new bridge, selected engineers J. E. Greiner Company to design it—and had his young daughter Jean pour the first bucket of concrete when the work began in 1925. Its construction came at the height of the extravagant Florida land boom of the 1920s, and the bridge is one of its greatest landmarks. It was designed not merely to carry cars, but to be a work of art, and it cost ten times as much as more prosaic bridges constructed nearby at the same time. It was completed after the land boom busted, and the 1927 dedication ceremony had to be paired with the annual Ponce de Leon Celebration in cash-strapped St. Augustine.

The Bridge of Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was included by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) on its list of the "11 Most Endangered Historic Sites" in the nation for 1997. The Bridge of Lions was later featured on the cover of the Trust's 1999 engagement calendar.

From its earliest days, it was hailed as "The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie." It has long been a symbol of the nation's oldest city.

Currently, the bridge opens when requested by a vessel, but only on the hour and half-hour between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm, excluding at 8:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 5:00 pm on Monday through Friday, other than federal holidays in the United States.

The west entrance of the bridge features manicured gazebos, landscaped palm trees, and a new publicly accessible dock extending partially into the bay. The Bridge of Lions is an iconic symbol of the nation's oldest city and continues to be a significant landmark of St. Augustine.