The Jordan Bridge, which spans the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River from Poindexter Street in South Norfolk to Elm Avenue in Portsmouth, opened for business in August of 1928. It was the brainchild of Carl Jordan of the Jordan Brothers Lumber Company, who, after a ferry strike in the 1920s, saw the need for a bridge in the area. At first because of a lack of vehicles in the area, and then later because of competition with other bridges, it struggled to become a profitable entity. Management of the bridge was taken over by the South Norfolk Bridge Commission in 1944, but it was not until 1977, when the city of Chesapeake took over, that the bridge finally became debt-free. For a much more detailed look at the bridge's history (and hey, this is where I paraphrased my information from!), take a look at this site: