'Rooster Bridge' over Tombigbee River near Demopolis is a true oddity

“HISTORIC MARKER 1500 FT” – That’s what the green highway sign said as my wife and I drove east the other day on U.S. Highway 80 towards the Tombigbee River. My eyes flicked to my rear and side mirrors, and I saw that ours was the only vehicle on our side of the highway. I saw the historic marker up ahead, and I pulled over in the breakdown lane for a closer look.

As soon as we got close enough to see the marker clearly, I realized that we were about to cross over the famous “Rooster Bridge, which crosses the river on the border of Sumter and Marengo Counties. I’d heard and read about the “Rooster Bridge” for years, but I’d always pictured it being in downtown Demopolis, which is actually about 11 miles northeast of the bridge.

According to the historic marker, this bridge is known as the “Rooster Bridge” because a man named Frank Derby in 1919 organized a rooster sale to raise money for the construction of a bridge over the Tombigbee at a place known as Moscow Ferry. This location was the last link in the completion of the Dixie Overland Highway, which ran from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. For the sale, roosters were to be solicited from world-famous persons and an auction and barbeque was to be held in Demopolis as a fundraiser for the bridge.

None other than U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was sold on the idea by Alabama Congressman William “Buck” Oliver, Admiral William S. Benson and Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels. Wilson, along with famous world leaders Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy and Georges Clemenceau of France, all had roosters shipped to Demopolis aboard the USS Northern Pacific. Alabama Gov. Thomas Kilby also sent a delegation of 27 prominent Alabamians to the White House to receive roosters from President Wilson.

On Aug. 14, 1919, over 600 roosters (and one hen sent by Helen Keller) arrived in Demopolis, and President Wilson’s rooster went on to be auctioned off for $44,000. Over $200,000 was pledged during the fundraiser and with the addition of state and federal funds, the bridge was built at a cost of $75,000 and opened in 1925.

The original bridge was built about one mile from the current bridge, and it was initially named Memorial Bridge. However, locals continued to call it the Rooster Bridge, and the name was officially changed to Rooster Bridge by the state legislature in 1959. In July 1971, state legislators passed another bill that decreed that all future bridges over the Tombigbee at Moscow would be named Rooster Bridge.

As things go, the original Rooster Bridge was demolished in 1980 and was replaced by the modern bridge that’s there today. In the end, if you’re ever traveling on U.S. Highway 80 and cross the Tombigbee River at the Sumter-Marengo County line, you have officially crossed the famous Rooster Bridge. The historic marker described above can be found on the west (Sumter County) side of the bridge.

(Got a comment or question? E-mail Lee Peacock at leepeacock2002@hotmail.com.)