Who was Woolsey Finnell? Bridge namesake had strong Tuscaloosa ties

The McFarland Boulevard bridge over the Black Warrior River opened in 1961 in Tuscaloosa, named for Woolsey Finnell, who as head of the state highway department pushed Congress to authorize toll bridges. The more profitable of those helped pay off debts on smaller ones.

Finnell, a civil engineer and contractor who worked for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad for 25 years, also served a city engineer for Tuscaloosa, and as probate judge of Tuscaloosa County from 1923-27.

He was born in Duncanville, and graduated from UA in 1887 with a degree in engineering. During World War I, Finnell reached the rank of colonel, was noted for meritorious service by Gen. John J. Pershing, and received the French decoration Legion of Honour.

Among Finnell's other local projects include the sanctuary of the First Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, the concrete reservoir for the city of Tuscaloosa’s water supply on Castle Hill, and the lift span of the old Warrior River drawbridge, which opened in 1922 and ran until 1973.

While working for the M&O, he built the still-in-use steel and wooden trestle, which runs high over the Black Warrior River downtown, adjacent to the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater. It was once the longest such trestle in the nation.

Finnell was the first Alabama resident to receive the Royal Arch Masons' highest honor, its gold award, accepting alongside then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. As one of its founders, Finnell also helped name the American Legion.

Though he had died in 1955 at 88, his widow, Margaret Finnell, spoke at an American Legion ceremony several months after his passing:

"He said he didn't need monuments in his honor. He said his bridges and his roads would be the only type of monument he needed."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Who was Woolsey Finnell? Bridge namesake had strong Tuscaloosa ties