Edmund Pettus Bridge

Edmund Pettus Bridge
Edmund Pettus Bridge
	The central span of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in April 2010
Coordinates	32°24′20″N 87°01′07″W / 32.40556°N 87.01861°W
	Edmund Pettus Bridge
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
Location	Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Built	1940
Built by	T. A. Loving Company
NRHP reference No.	13000281
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	February 27, 2013
Designated NHL	February 27, 2013
Carries	; US 80 Bus.
Crosses	Alabama River
Characteristics
Design	Through arch bridge
Total length	1,248.1 feet (380.4 m)
Width	42.3 feet (12.9 m)
Longest span	250 feet (76 m)
No. of spans	8
Piers in water	4
Clearance above	14.8 feet (4.5 m)
History
Construction start	1939
Construction end	1940
Opened	May 25, 1940
Statistics
Daily traffic	17,720
Location

The Edmund Pettus Bridge carries U.S. Route 80 Business (US 80 Bus.) across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama. Built in 1940, it is named after Edmund Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. senator, and state-level leader ("Grand Dragon") of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.^[2] The bridge is a steel through arch bridge with a central span of 250 feet (76 m). Nine large concrete arches support the bridge and roadway on the east side.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the site of the conflict of Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, when police attacked Civil Rights Movement demonstrators with horses, billy clubs, and tear gas^[3] as they were attempting to march to the state capital, Montgomery.^[2] The marchers crossed the bridge again on March 21 and walked to the Capitol building.

The bridge was declared a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 2013.^[1]^[4]

^ ^a ^b "Edmund Pettus Bridge". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
^ ^a ^b Whack, Errin (March 7, 2015). "Who Was Edmund Pettus?: The march to freedom started on a bridge that honors a man bent on preserving slavery and segregation". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
^ "We Shall Overcome – Selma-to-Montgomery March". National Park Service. April 23, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
^ "America's Great Outdoors: Secretary Salazar, Director Jarvis Designate 13 New National Historic Landmarks" (Press release). US Department of the Interior. March 11, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2020.

[nps_nhl-1] "Edmund Pettus Bridge". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

[SI-2] Whack, Errin (March 7, 2015). "Who Was Edmund Pettus?: The march to freedom started on a bridge that honors a man bent on preserving slavery and segregation". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved June 19, 2022.

[3] "We Shall Overcome – Selma-to-Montgomery March". National Park Service. April 23, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2017.

[4] "America's Great Outdoors: Secretary Salazar, Director Jarvis Designate 13 New National Historic Landmarks" (Press release). US Department of the Interior. March 11, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2020.

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