Named in honor of United States Senator William Edmund Pettus and the scene of one of the most pivotal moments in Civil Rights history, the Edmund Pettus Bridge crosses the Alabama River at the Water Avenue-Broad Street Intersection, connecting Selma to Selmont. When it opened in 1940, the president of the Selma City Council announced that it was “the finest bridge between Savannah, Georgia, and San Diego, California”. Declared an engineering masterpiece, the bridge replaced an old two-lane, swing structure that required a bridge tender to open and close for river traffic. The designer’s called for a four-lane, arched structure that provided support for traffic crossing the bridge and river traffic crossing underneath, but also offers a panoramic view of the second oldest city in the state of Alabama.

The bridge’s name became etched in American history when, on March 7, 1965,  Alabama State Troopers and Dallas County sheriff’s deputies routed civil rights marcher’s carrying their grievances to the state capital in Montgomery. Officers attacked the demonstrators with bats, tear gas, and horses, injuring many. The event was later shown on television, which gained the attention of the nation, earning widespread support for their movement and the eventual passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The bridge marks the beginning of the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail and the U.S. Highway 80 All-American Byway and is considered one of the top ten monuments to freedom. Thousands of visitors come to Selma each year to take part in the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee festival. Through the year, thousands more visit and walk across the bridge as a reminder of their right to vote.