Built in 1940 is the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a steel through arch bridge that carries the US Highway 80 across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama. It is quite a historic span with its involvement with an event during the days of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

Named after a former US Senator and Confederate brigadier general, the Edmund Pettus Bridge has seen a part of the overwhelming events related to the Civil Rights Movement struggle. In March 7, 1965, it became the venue of the infamous Bloody Sunday conflict, which was supposedly a peaceful protest that turned ugly. State troopers barricaded the bridge, making it impossible for the protesters to pass through. Things got heated which led to shoving, pushing, and even trampling and beating. The event got so brutal that 17 marchers were hospitalized.