Byler Road, which passes through Natural Bridge, was Alabama's first state road. Governor W.W. Bibb signed into law a bill authorizing its construction on December 16, 1819. Named for its chief promoter, John Byler, the turnpike was completed in 1822 and ran from Tuscaloosa to near Muscle Shoals, linking the markets of the Tennessee Valley with the head of navigation of the Black Warrior River. After 1826, when Tuscaloosa became the state capital, it was "the Main Street of Northwest Alabama." In March 1865, Union General J.H. Wilson passed over the road with 13,480 cavalrymen en route to the Battle of Selma, and while passing through this area, Wilson's troops divested local citizens of their worldly possessions. Prior to 1885, Natural Bridge was known as Larissa and later Lodi. When the railroad began, the name was changed to Natural Bridge. The town was first incorporated in 1914 with James A. Edmonds as mayor and again in 1997 with Farrah Tittle appointed mayor by the probate judge. In 2000, A. G. "Pete" Parrish became the first person elected mayor since the 1920s.