DANDRIDGE — With apologies to Simon and Garfunkel, the situation here is “like a troubled bridge over placid waters.”
I speak, of course, of the freshly named President Donald J. Trump Bridgeon Interstate 40.
This is one of two parallel bridges spanning upper Douglas Lake — or the pre-TVA French Broad River, whichever you prefer. Less than half a mile downstream is the U.S. Highway 25/70 Bridge, aka Col. Alfred R. Swann Bridge aka Swann’s Boat Dock Bridge.
Sorta like how the parallel Gay Street Bridge and the U.S. Highway 441 Bridge, aka Henley Bridge (not Henley Street Bridge, dammit!) in Knoxville both cross upper Fort Loudoun Lake — or the pre-TVA Tennessee River. We nit-picky native geezers are cartographically multilingual, and I do apologize
to foreigners unfamiliar with our parlance.
The brouhaha erupted last month when state and federal governments spent God only knows how much money to fly in a bunch of suits from Nashville and Washington for a private, quickie ceremony to change the name of the I-40 Bridge, aka the Frances Burnett Swann Bridge (not to be confused with the Col. Alfred R. Swann Bridge, aka U.S. Highway 25/70 Bridge aka Swann’s Boat Dock Bridge) to that of President Trump — and I’m so flummoxed by names right now I’m not sure I know my own.
Understandably, Swann descendants feel blindsided and angry. Their great-grandparents’ sprawling farm, like private land throughout the French Broad basin, was hurriedly seized during World War II to build Douglas Dam for power production.
The Colonel’s name went up on the first bridge. Later, Mrs. Swann was honored on I-40 because of her efforts to spare Dandridge and the French Broad Baptist Church from inundation. Hence the earthen dike separating Dandridge from Douglas Lake today. Politicos would be wise to find alternative landmarks to reinstate the Swanns’ legacy.
Everybody knows what brought this on. Trump is obsessed with having his name plastered on anything not moving (oops, forgot about airplanes) and his toadies are delighted to appease. It’s classic brown-nosing and began long before Alexander was even The Average, let alone The Great.
The only difference here is that “invitation-only” nonsense. Having attended many of these grip-and-grins in 58 years of newspapering, I can guarantee that’s not normal. Typically, the more the merrier. Strike up the high school band!
At some point, this too shall pass. The I-40/Frances B. Swann/DJT Bridge is due to be replaced later this year, with a completion date of 2029.
Stay tuned to see who wins the next name game.
Sam Venable’s column appears every Sunday. Contact him at sam.venable@outlook.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What’s in a name? All depends on who’s in office | Sam Venable
