September 10, 1932
In northwestern Massachusetts, a newly built bridge crossing the Connecticut River was opened. The French King Bridge serves as a link between the towns of Erving and Gill. This bridge was named after French King Rock, a nearby geographical feature.
Approximately 15,000 people showed up on that Saturday for the inaugural festivities for the French King Bridge. The public officials who were on hand for this grand opening included Joseph Ely (1881-1956), governor of Massachusetts from 1931 to 1935; and Frank E. Lyman (1866-1938), the state’s commissioner of public works between 1925 and 1934. Franklin Huff Payne (1876-1960), a lifelong resident of that area of the Bay State and also the U.S. assistant secretary of war from 1930 to 1933, was the guest of honor.
The next day’s edition of the Hartford Courant reported on this celebratory debut of the French King Bridge. This newspaper noted, “The exercises were followed by a parade in which National Guardsmen, floats, and antique vehicles participated.”
The French King Bridge was designated that year’s “Most Beautiful Steel Bridge” by the American Institute of Steel Construction. This bridge, which was rebuilt 60 years later, is part of Massachusetts Route 2. The French King Bridge carries not only motor vehicles but also bicycle and pedestrian traffic. This structure is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. (The accompanying photo of the bridge was taken in 2019.)
Photo Credit: Parkerjh (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Additional information on the French King Bridge is available at https://loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1418/ and https://structurae.net/en/structures/french-king-bridge
For more information on bridges that have been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_documented_by_the_Historic_American_Engineering_Record_in_Massachusetts
Transportation History 
An elaborate suicide prevention fence was recently installed, a testimony to the communities nearby that wanted to do something about this.
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Hi, Steve. Thank you very much for bringing attention to the recent installation of a suicide prevention fence on the French King Bridge.
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