{"nrhp_refnum":"08000470","name":"Town Line Bridge","other_names":["Taylor Lenticular Truss Bridge"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Town Line Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Taylor","county":"Cortland County","state":"NY","lat":42.567998620000026,"lon":-75.88232004399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An 85-foot single-span iron lenticular truss bridge carrying Town Line Road over the Otselic River at Taylor, Cortland County, New York, built in 1888 by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut. A small iron pony truss span was added on the east side in 1903.","why_significant":"The bridge is significant for engineering and transportation as a rare, substantially intact example of a small metal truss bridge by a prolific late nineteenth-century manufacturer. It uses the lenticular truss patented by William O. Douglas. It is one of only about 13 known surviving lenticular spans in New York State.","narrative":"Town Line Road crosses the Otselic River near the hamlet of Taylor, in rural Cortland County, on an 85-foot iron bridge erected in 1888. The Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin, Connecticut, fabricated the span using the lenticular truss design patented by William O. Douglas of Binghamton. It rests on stone abutments and has a wood plank deck, last replaced in 1976. In 1903 a small pony truss span from the Groton Bridge Company was added on the east side to cross the spillway of a local sawmill. Built as a wagon bridge for a farming community, it has been closed to vehicles since about 1990 and now serves walkers, cyclists, and snowmobilers. The bridge was listed for its engineering and transportation importance and as a highly intact example of its type. It is one of only about 13 known lenticular spans remaining in New York State, and surviving early metal truss bridges are increasingly rare.","period_of_significance":"1888-1957","architect_builder":"Berlin (CT) Iron Bridge Company; Groton Bridge Company","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed to vehicular traffic since about 1990; now used by pedestrians, bicyclists, and snowmobilers.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.606418-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000470.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000470/1dfbb3ad7f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000470/1dfbb3ad7f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TOWN_LINE_BRIDGE,_CORTLAND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:TOWN_LINE_BRIDGE,_CORTLAND_COUNTY,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317171","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_Line_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7829988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/cortland-county/town-line-bridge-08000470/"}