The first bridge built across this section of water was constructed in 1929, but the idea of the bridge goes back at least a century earlier, to its namesake, General John Hodges.
The General originally ran a ferry across the water but petitioned for permission to build a bridge when it was found that horses, cattle, and carriages weren't the best ferry passengers. Nothing ever came of this though, and the original 1929 bridge was replaced with the current span in 1982.