Fort Lee Road / George Washington Bridge Approach

Fort Lee Road follows the approximate route Washington's retreating army took southward from the Palisades heights after evacuating the fort on November 20, 1776. The George Washington Bridge, which opened in 1931, spans the Hudson at almost exactly the site of the river that Washington's forces had to defend and then abandon. The juxtaposition — an engineering marvel where an army once fled in disorder — is a useful entry point for discussing how revolutionary-era geography shapes modern urban infrastructure.