A bridge in North Carolina has been named for a judicial pioneer.

Ceremonies were held on Tuesday renaming a bridge over Interstate 73/74 in Richmond County for Judge Henry E. Frye, who grew up in the county.

Frye was one of the first black lawyers in the South to serve as assistant U.S. attorney, and was later elected to the state legislature. He was named to the state Supreme Court in 1983 by then-Gov. Jim Hunt and served 17 years, as the court's first black associate justice. He was named chief justice in 1999 before he retired the next year.

The bridge was previously known as the Green Lake Road Bridge.