On July 1st, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge (Coolbridge) dedicated the Delaware River Bridge. He planted a Vermont Maple tree in Camden, New Jersey after crossing the bridge from Philadelphia with a crowd of spectators. The idea of a bridge across the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey had been floated since colonial times, but ferries served the needs of Philadelphia and South Jersey until the early 20th century. The growth of Camden as a commercial and industrial hub made a bridge necessary, and preparation began in the 1920s. 

Construction of the Delaware River Bridge began on January 6th, 1922, and cost $37 million at the time ($1.23 billion in today's money).  It is 128 feet wide, 385 feet tall, 7,456 feet long, and has carried over a billion vehicles in the 100 years that it has stood. It has also seen significant expansion in subsequent decades. Trains came in the 1930s, and residents of both cities still use the PATCO Speedline for their commutes. While the bridge was paid for with tolls from its inception, new toll booths were raised on the Camden side of the bridge in the early 1950s. In the 1970s, new roads were constructed to improve connections between the bridge and downtown Camden, as well as to the rest of Eastern Pennsylvania and New York State.

As new bridges were constructed to connect New Jersey to both Pennsylvania and Delaware, the name "Delaware River Bridge" was no longer satisfactory. Since the bridge was terminated near Franklin Square in Philadelphia in 1952, the bridge was rededicated as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The Ben Franklin Bridge has spent the last century as a dominant and defining structure of the Philadelphia and Camden Skyline and a part of its citizens' daily lives. This website chronicles the story of the Ben Franklin Bridge, from its planning and construction to the reactions to its presence.