A wire-cable suspension bridge supported by 285-foot towers, the Mount Hope Bridge is a structure of pared-down, understated beauty. Upon its completion in 1929, it received the American Institute of Steel Construction's artistic bridge award, an honor that did its builders little good: built as a speculative venture, it opened on October 24, 1929, only five days before the stock market collapse that heralded the Great Depression. Within two years the private corporation that operated it as a toll bridge was bankrupt. Nearby is the Bristol Ferry Lighthouse, built by the United States government just after 1854, a modest brick building that was converted to a residence after the completion of the bridge.