August 28, 1940
In northeast Maryland, a bridge carrying U.S. Route 40 across the Susquehanna River was inaugurated. Originally known as the Susquehanna River Toll Bridge, this 7,624-foot (2,324-meter)-long structure connects the city of Havre de Grace in Harford County with the town of Perryville in Cecil County via Garrett Island in the latter of those counties.
The Susquehanna River Toll Bridge was designed by the J.E. Greiner Company, a Baltimore-based civil engineering firm. Construction on the bridge began in February 1939.
Approximately 2,000 people showed up for the dedication of the Susquehanna River Toll Bridge. The public officials who gave speeches during this ceremony included Herbert R. O’Conor (1896-1960), governor of Maryland; and Ezra B. Whitman (1880-1963), chairman of the State Roads Commission. Mary Eugenia O’Conor (1896-1971), the governor’s wife, cut a black-and-orange ribbon to formally open the new bridge to motor vehicle traffic.
In 1986, this bridge was renamed in memory of Thomas J. Hatem (1925-1985). A lifelong resident of the region, Hatem served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates (the lower house of the state’s legislature); chairman of the Harford County board of commissioners; state insurance commissioner; and chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission.
The Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge is the oldest of the eight toll facilities operated by the Maryland Transportation Authority. In addition, it is the southernmost vehicular bridge spanning the Susquehanna River.
Since 2012, Harford Transit LINK — a bus service operated by the Harford County Department of Transportation — has used the Hatem Bridge as the major part of its route between Havre de Grace and Perryville. Bicyclists were first allowed to travel across this bridge in 2016.
Photo Credit: Bill Lawson (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge (formerly called the Susquehanna River Toll Bridge), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Hatem_Memorial_Bridge
Transportation History 