This week we travel across the Huey P. Long Bridge to mark its 90th anniversary. One of America’s highest and longest steel bridges and the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River in New Orleans, the bridge was dedicated Dec. 16, 1935.
Built at a cost of $13.5 million (more than $305 million in today’s money), the 4.4-mile-long bridge that’s 135 feet above the river, was named for former governor and U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long, who championed its construction. He was assassinated four months before the bridge was completed.
“Erection of this bridge was one of the greatest of Gov. Long’s achievements,” said Gov. O.K. Allen at the dedication ceremony. Long’s daughter Rose cut the ribbon on the highway portion of the bridge, while Augusta Walmsley, daughter of New Orleans Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley (Long’s fierce political rival), cut the ribbon on the railroad portion…