The Mississippi River would often change paths before the great river was tamed by the US Army Corps Of Engineering. Once such change suddenly left the river city of Greenville, Mississippi, about 7 miles from the river in the 1930's. Following that event, the City of Natchez started working on a new river bridge. A bit of political maneuvering found the same set of blueprints being used to build a new river bridge over the new river channel just west of Greenville.

The new Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge opened late in 1940. It very soon became apparent that the bridge was a navigation hazard. It turns out that there is a very swift cross-current where the bridge is located. Tow operators have to round a sharp bend, then aim for one of the bridge piers, with the current pushing the head of the barge two away from the pier at the last second. This is something that only highly experienced tow pilots can attempt, and it is something that has gone wrong with deadly consequences a number of times. Replacing the bridge became more of a matter of safety than any structural problems.

The bridge was also the scene of a 1951 airplane crash. A jet jockey from nearby Greenville Air Force Base attempted to fly under the bridge. He missed. The aircraft was a total loss, the pilot was a fatality, and the bridge suffered $175,000 in damage.

An interesting design feature of the bridge are the arms that extend from the side of the bridge. They carry electrical and communications lines across the river. Normally, those would be carried in buried trenches under the water. But due to the fast current, the lines were repeatedly uncovered and snagged by anchor lines. The revenue from leasing space for these utilities allowed the toll to be removed from the bridge in 1950.

Another interesting fact about this bridge is that it is almost entirely in Arkansas, even the east approach to the bridge. The state line between Arkansas and Mississippi was established to be the center of the main channel of the river. Over the years, the river has changed course several times in this area. At the bridge site, the river has scoured a channel that moved west several thousand feet. As a result, both ends of the bridge are in Arkansas, and only the easternmost piers of the approach road are located in Mississippi. This is the only bridge on the lower Mississippi River where the state line boundary does not follow the current main river channel. The new cable stayed bridge being built just downstream of this bridge will have the same geographical quirk.

Ben Humphreys was a member of the US House of Representatives, elected in 1902. He fought for flood control on the lower Mississippi, a fight that was largely in vein until after the massive flood of 1912. He is regarded as the father of flood control in the delta region.