In 1795, Daniel Carroll, William Duncanson, Thomas Law, Notley Young, George Walker, and Matthew Wigfield petitioned the Maryland General Assembly for permission to construct a bascule bridge over the Anacostia River. On December 24, 1795, the Maryland legislature adopted a bill authorizing the bridge. The Maryland act required that the bridge be constructed at the base of Kentucky Avenue SE (less than a hundred feet downstream from the terminus of the current bridge). (William Young, Elizabeth Wheeler's brother and a relative of Notley Young's, owned this land.) Its southeastern terminus was to be on land owned by Wigfield. It was authorized by law to collect tolls, although these could be no higher than the market average. A corporation, the Eastern Branch Bridge Co., was formed to build the bridge. It issued 225 shares at $200 a share, with dividends to be paid from tolls collected on the bridge. Under the terms of the legislature's bill, title to the bridge reverted to the state of Maryland after 30 years. The corporation didn't act with much urgency. It was not until March 18, 1801, that stock in the firm was sold, but even then $43,000 was quickly raised.