 It was named in honor of the 60-year-old vertical-lift Cochrane Bridge (in turn named for president of the Mobile, Alabama Chamber of Commerce at the time, John T. Cochrane, Sr.) that it replaced, and the historic community of Africatown, which was located where the western approach to the bridge was built.In 1997 community activists promoted preservation and designation of the Africatown Historic District to encourage development there.The district was included on Mobile's African American Heritage Trail in 2009.