Sgt. Alvin C. York's efforts to better Fentress County's education and living conditions resulted in the first paved road through the area, after he returned as a national hero from World War I in 1919. Tennessee built Highway TN28 in 1925 as Federal Aid Project Number 20-A. Sgt. York himself was instrumental in this bridge being built 15 years later, as the structure itself actually took some of his property. The highway through the area was originally proposed as US37, but it remained TN28, until the government assigned it US127 in 1958 as a link in the William Howard Taft Highway from Canada to Ft. Myers, Florida. This is a Pratt through truss bridge that opened in 1940. At the dedication, Sgt. York was the featured speaker.