French King Bridge

The French King Bridge was conceived as part of a State Highway Department project to relocate a hazardous seven-mile stretch of the old Mohawk Trail Highway between Erving and Greenfield. The old route had wound through the villages of Millers Falls and Turners Falls on a course marked by steep grades, sharp curves, narrow bridges, right angle turns and a pair of at- grade railroad crossings. The principal challenge was the crossing of the precipitous Connecticut River gorge near the French King Rock, named by the French officer of an Indian scouting party during the French and Indian Wars.