{"nrhp_refnum":"01001558","name":"Blackstone Viaduct","other_names":["New York &amp","New England Railroad Viaduct"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Canal, Farnum and Mill Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackstone","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.01551941900004,"lon":-71.53287645099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A curved railroad viaduct about 1,600 feet long in the village of Waterford, Blackstone, Worcester County, Massachusetts, built in 1872 by the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad. It combines earth embankments, granite abutments, a seven-arch bridge and a single-arch bridge.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for its link to the 19th-century struggle to build and control competing rail lines between Boston and New York City. Under Criterion C it is a highly visible part of a railroad landscape and one of several large 19th-century masonry arch bridges in Massachusetts. The 1918 reinforced-concrete sheathing is also noted as a notable repair of its era.","narrative":"Running roughly 1,600 feet through the Waterford village of Blackstone, Massachusetts, this railroad viaduct was completed in 1872 by the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad. It is made of eleven connected parts: earth-and-cinder embankments, granite abutments and retaining walls, a seven-arch bridge that carries the line over Mill Street, and a single-arch bridge. By 1912 several arches were failing, and in 1918 they were encased in about a foot of steel-reinforced concrete, which now hides the original granite arch barrels. The structure is tied to the contest to build and control competing rail routes between Boston and New York City, and it dominates a local landscape shaped by railroads and textile mills. It is also counted among the notable 19th-century masonry arch bridges in Massachusetts. The river bridge at its east end was removed after flood damage in the late 1960s, and the viaduct is no longer in use.","period_of_significance":"1872-1951","architect_builder":"Boston, Hartford & Erie RR, Boston Bridge Works, American Bridge Company","architectural_style":"OTHER: masonry arch, earth embankment","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant and not in use; the steel bridge over the Blackstone River was removed after flood damage in the late 1960s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.936869-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7975/63797512/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/01001558.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001558/55e9b2eda9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001558/55e9b2eda9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Pi.1415926535","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackstone_Viaduct_at_Mill_Street_(1),_June_2021.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pi.1415926535</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackstone_Viaduct_at_Mill_Street_(1),_June_2021.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797512","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_Viaduct","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715408"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/blackstone-viaduct-01001558/"}