{"nrhp_refnum":"09000138","name":"Faust Street Bridge","other_names":["Guadalupe River Bridge","Milltown Bridge","Mill Bridge (CMB-B005-30-001)"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Connecting Faust and Porter Streets at the Guadalupe River","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Braunfels","county":"Comal County","state":"TX","lat":29.699274581000054,"lon":-98.10612816199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-03-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 640-foot wrought iron multiple-span truss roadway bridge over the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, connecting Faust and Porter Streets. It was built in 1887 by the King Iron Bridge Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the bridge is one of the earliest and largest surviving truss bridges in Texas and the longest, most complex pre-1890 truss still in its original location. It is also the only early multiple-span truss in the state still in place. Its Murphy-Whipple and Pratt trusses, wrought iron construction and limestone piers make it rare, and it served as a key link on the Austin-San Antonio road and later State Highway 2.","narrative":"Spanning the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, this 640-foot wrought iron bridge links Faust and Porter Streets. Built in 1887 by the King Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, for Comal County, it has two 220-foot Murphy-Whipple truss spans flanked by two 100-foot Pratt truss approach spans, all resting on five limestone piers with pointed ends. It was the county's first high-water bridge and stands near an old Spanish colonial river crossing. The bridge carried traffic on the Austin-San Antonio Post Road, the Meridian Highway and State Highway 2 until a new concrete bridge took over in 1934, then served local traffic until a 1978 fire closed it. A restoration between 1993 and 1998 repaired the damage and converted it to pedestrian use, keeping most original material. It is considered significant for transportation history and as a rare, large surviving example of Whipple truss and wrought iron engineering in Texas.","period_of_significance":"1887-1934","architect_builder":"King Iron Bridge Company, Builder","architectural_style":"Other: Pratt (Murphy-Whipple) Through Truss","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Restored 1993-1998 and in use as a pedestrian-only bridge at its original location; it was closed to vehicles after a 1978 fire.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.764472-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/9686/40968635/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/09000138.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000138/412709fe06-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000138/412709fe06-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faust_street_bridge_2012.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faust_street_bridge_2012.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968635","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002768"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/comal-county/faust-street-bridge-09000138/"}