{"nrhp_refnum":"75000292","name":"Old Town Bridge","other_names":["Four Arch Bridge"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"N of Weyland on MA 27","address_restricted":false,"city":"Weyland","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37542283600004,"lon":-71.37969739599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-arch stone bridge over the Sudbury River in Wayland, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in 1848 by Josiah Russell on the site of earlier foot, ferry and frame bridges dating to the 1640s.","why_significant":"The site is said to have held the first frame bridge in Middlesex County, and the present bridge is an important example of stone arch construction. It stood near the 1676 King Philip's War ambush of Concord men and served as a link between Concord and Sudbury. Iron ore was also shipped by barge from the site after the Middlesex Canal was built.","narrative":"Spanning the Sudbury River in Wayland, Massachusetts, this four-arch bridge of granite slab, rough quarry granite and fieldstone was built in 1848 by Josiah Russell for $500, under a town vote requiring a 30-year warranty. It replaced a line of earlier crossings at the same spot: a foot bridge and ferry in the early 1640s, then a cart bridge contracted in 1643 that is said to be the first frame bridge in Middlesex County. The location was chosen as the narrowest place to cross both river and marsh. In 1676, during King Philip's War, Concord men hurrying to aid Sudbury settlers were ambushed and killed nearby, and a granite marker placed in 1908 commemorates them. Iron ore was later barged from the site toward Chelmsford. Traffic crossed the bridge until 1955, when a widened road bypassed it. Claims that Washington crossed it or that it was the first stone arch bridge in the state cannot be supported, but it remains a significant example of stone arch construction.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Josiah Russell (builder; recorded erroneously as William Russell in Hudson's Annals)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Generally in good condition, with an asphalt road bed maintained by the Wayland Highway Department; it carried automobile traffic until 1955 and has been bypassed since.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.408169-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7955/63795504/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000292.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000292/a956e1f221-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000292/a956e1f221-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Town_Bridge_(Wayland,_Massachusetts)_-_DSC00505.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Town_Bridge_(Wayland,_Massachusetts)_-_DSC00505.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795504","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town_Bridge_(Wayland,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085269"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/old-town-bridge-75000292/"}