The Butt Memorial Bridge is a road bridge in Augusta, Georgia

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

 dedicated to Major Archibald Willingham Butt

Archibald Butt

Major Archibald Willingham Butt was an influential military aide to U.S. presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Before becoming an aide to Roosevelt, Butt had pursued a career in journalism and served in the Spanish-American War...

, a victim of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The bridge was erected in 1914 and dedicated by President William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

, a personal friend of Butt's. It is notable that the bridge was the first memorial erected to remember the Titanic disaster, and it stands today as the only memorial in Georgia dedicated to the disaster. The bridge is made of stone, featuring four pillars topped with bronze-banded globes placed over electric lights. Four lions with plaques adorn each side and end of the bridge, while lights are strung from one end of the bridge to the other. A memorial plaque is located on the center of the bridge, dedicated to Butt's memory. The bridge spans the Augusta Canal

Augusta Canal

The Augusta Canal is a historic canal located in Augusta, Georgia. The canal connects two points of the Savannah River. It was devised to harness the power of the fall line of the Savannah River for mills, to provide transportation of goods, and to provide drinking water for the city...

 at 15th Street in the downtown area.

Preservation

In 1994, the fate of the Butt Bridge (as it is affectionately known in Augusta) was in doubt. City planners wished to get $15 million from the Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...

 to reroute 15th street, creating a new thoroughfare. Plans called for the demolishing of the Butt Bridge. Locals created a popular movement to save the 80 year old bridge, producing two large-scale concerts nearby, punningly called the Butt Jam. One took place in 1994 and another in 1995. Several well-known bands of the time played the venue and the unofficial slogan, "Save Our Butt," appeared all over town.

The money generated helped stave off the destruction of the bridge for a few years, until an Act of Congress saved it. This act was passed through the efforts of the Butt Memorial Bridge Legal Defense Fund, Representative Charlie Norwood

Charlie Norwood

Charles Whitlow Norwood, Jr., D.D.S. was an American politician and dentist, serving as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 until his death...

 and actors Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...

 and Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...

. The Butt Memorial Bridge remains the only memorial to the Titanic located in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

See also

• Passengers of the RMS Titanic