Like Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago itself, the bridge’s design is Beaux Arts. It has a distinctly Parisian flair. Thomas Pihlfeldt, Hugh Young and Edward Bennett designed it to resemble the Alexander III Bridge over the Seine in Paris.
The four bridge houses provide a canvas for bas-relief sculpture depicting pivotal moments in Chicago history:
The arrival of French explorers James Marquette and Louis Joliet
The first settlers, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and John Kinzie
The Battle of Fort Dearborn
Rebuilding after the Chicago Fire of 1871