{"nrhp_refnum":"77001440","name":"Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"County Rd. 149 (Berry's Creek Rd.) at Paluxy River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bluff Dale","county":"Erath County","state":"TX","lat":32.35428891500004,"lon":-98.02597524699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A suspension bridge over the Paluxy River on Berry's Creek Road at Bluff Dale, Erath County, Texas, built about 1895 and moved 1½ miles upstream in 1934. It is county-owned and measures roughly 11 by 225 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it Erath County's earliest recorded bridge and one of the few remaining suspension bridges in Texas. It was Bluff Dale's first permanent bridge, giving an all-weather crossing on the route toward Fort Worth after the railroad arrived in 1889.","narrative":"This suspension bridge crosses the Paluxy River on Berry's Creek Road at Bluff Dale in Erath County, Texas. Built about 1895, it originally stood on an old road that later became State Highway 10 and then US 377. When a wider bridge replaced it in 1933, the county precinct moved the old structure in 1934 to a crossing 1½ miles upstream, adding 25-foot extensions at each end to suit the river's width there. The bridge measures about 11 by 225 feet, with seven 1-inch cables along each side, 9-inch iron pipes, steel girders and a lumber deck with two tire runners. It was Bluff Dale's first permanent bridge, built as the community grew after the railroad arrived in 1889. It is described as Erath County's earliest recorded bridge and one of few remaining suspension bridges in Texas. It remains in use, though the form notes deterioration from lack of maintenance and a nearby low-water bridge now serves heavy trucks.","period_of_significance":"1895","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use, but described as deteriorating from lack of county maintenance, with parts of the roadway needing replacement.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.68289-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/9719/40971910/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001440.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001440/da6dc1f948-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001440/da6dc1f948-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BluffDaleBridgeMainSpan.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Bramblett, KD5NRH</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BluffDaleBridgeMainSpan.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971910","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Dale_Suspension_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4930642"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/erath-county/bluff-dale-suspension-bridge-77001440/"}