Otowi Bridge & Edith Warner’s House

The Otowi Bridge was crossed by many Manhattan Project workers on their way to the secret city.

NPS

Quick Facts

Location:

Otowi Historic District

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

This location requires a stop along a busy highway. Please use your best judgement and be aware of your surroundings while seeing this historical bridge. 

The Otowi Bridge, a wooden suspension bridge built in 1924, provided safe passage across the Rio Grande River for travelers coming and going to Los Alamos. By 1928, the Los Alamos Ranch School hired Edith Warner to take care of freight delivered by railroad. Warner stayed in a small adobe house on San Ildefonso Pueblo Reservation, near the Otowi Bridge. In 1942, a man that Warner had known because of his many trips to this area, came by and said, “Your life’s going to change.” That man was Robert J. Oppenheimer, the soon to be wartime director of the top-secret Los Alamos Laboratory. Soon, scientists and staff were coming from the Lamy Train Station to the secret city of Los Alamos, New Mexico, the instructions were clear – cross the Rio Grande at the Otowi Bridge and continue on up “the hill.” 

Edith Warner and her Pueblo companion, Tilano, set up a tea house and store in a little adobe structure near the Otowi Bridge for passing travelers. Before long, convoys of army vehicles and buses could be seen crossing the bridge on their way to Los Alamos. Oppenheimer eventually arranged for Edith Warner to host dinners for residents living behind the fence in Los Alamos. While trips to Santa Fe required a special day pass, staff and their families did not have to get a day pass to enjoy a meal at the tea house. Shortly after, Edith Warner’s tea house became a popular destination for scientists and their families, enjoying tea and Warner’s famous chocolate cake.  

Today, the Otowi Bridge is part of the National Register of Historical Places. However, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in the late 1940s when the two-lane steel bridge was constructed to facilitate the increase of workers, supplies, and equipment moving to the secret city and laboratory. Edith Warner’s adobe home can still be seen from the newly constructed bridge, giving a glimpse into the life of locals living on the outskirts of the once secret citiy.  

Continue Your Journey 

From the Otowi Bridge continue on up “the hill” to Los Alamos, stopping at Main Gate Park for an iconic photo. As you make your way into the center of town you will pass the Bradbury Science Museum. Fuller Lodge is straight ahead and surrounded by many other historical structures, where you can follow in the footsteps of famous scientists.