The Rogue River Bridge is one of six major bridges constructed by Conde B. McCullough, Oregon state bridge engineer, on the Oregon Coast Highway between 1931 and 1936. The other bridges were the Alsea Bay Bridge at Waldport, the Yaquina Bay Bridge at Newport, the Siuslaw River Bridge at Florence, the Umpqua River Bridge at Reedsport, and the Coos Bay Bridge at North Bend.

Completion of these bridges is considered the dividing line between the period of relative isolation and dependence on sea transportation for many of Oregon's coastal communities and their newfound association with each other along this ribbon of asphalt known as US 101.

The Rogue River Bridge was the first reinforced-concrete arch bridge built in the United States using the Freyssinet method of arch decentering. McCullough's application of the Freyssinet method of arch precompression permitted the use of slender, even delicate, arch ribs that combined his passion for a mixture of classical designs with embellishments in the emerging popular Art Deco style.

The Rogue River Bridge is also known as the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge after the Oregon governor who promoted its construction.