It is possible that studies may have been conducted as early as the 1880s into the possibility of a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay. However, the first known proposal came about in 1907 and called for a crossing between Baltimore and Tolchester Beach. In 1927, local businesspeople were authorized to finance the construction of a Baltimore to Tolchester Beach crossing. Plans for the new bridge were made, but construction was canceled following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 with the collapse of the American economy and resulting Great Depression of the 1930s.