{"nrhp_refnum":"12000401","name":"Jersey Bridge","other_names":["Highway 49 Bridge","Bridge #13-0005"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"CA 49 from Main to Commercial Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Downieville","county":"Sierra County","state":"CA","lat":39.55980752100004,"lon":-120.82788606699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-07-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-lane, 120-foot steel Parker through truss bridge built in 1938 over the Downie River in Downieville, Sierra County, California. It connects Main and Commercial Streets and carries State Route 49.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the bridge is significant under Criterion A at the local level for its role in the planning and development of Downieville. It replaced earlier Jersey bridges and the 1936 highway bridge, all lost to flood or other causes, and it still carries Highway 49 on one lane. It is one of four surviving single-lane truss bridges in town.","narrative":"Jersey Bridge is a 120-foot steel Parker through truss that crosses the Downie River in Downieville, California, linking Main and Commercial Streets. Sierra County engineer George Taylor designed it, and the Judson Pacific Company of San Francisco built it in 1938 after a December 1937 flood destroyed the earlier wooden Jersey Bridge, the Durgan Bridge and a state concrete arch highway bridge. The single 12.5-foot roadway has a four-foot wooden pedestrian walkway on the east side. The state never replaced the lost highway bridge, so Jersey Bridge has carried State Route 49 ever since, making it the only one-lane point on the highway between Oakhurst and Vinton. It is one of four surviving one-lane truss bridges in Downieville. Its significance rests on its contribution to the town's community planning and development, since the narrow span keeps traffic slow and the town's historic character intact. Only minor changes to the walkway posts and guardrails have occurred.","period_of_significance":"1938","architect_builder":"George F. Taylor, county engineer, designer; Judson Pacific Company, builder","architectural_style":"Single lane, steel, rigid-connected polygonal Parker through truss","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still in use carrying State Route 49 through Downieville; maintained by Caltrans under contract, owned by Sierra County. The form says it retains a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.743756-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/12000401.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000401/884d1b6249-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000401/884d1b6249-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Frank Schulenburg","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downieville_(2024)-L1006423.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Schulenburg</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:Downieville_(2024)-L1006423.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857814","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130545673"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sierra-county/jersey-bridge-12000401/"}