{"nrhp_refnum":"80001363","name":"Tartar's Ferry Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Spans Spoon River SW of Smithfield","address_restricted":false,"city":"Smithfield","county":"Fulton County","state":"IL","lat":40.44616707000006,"lon":-90.35043102199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-10-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-span steel Parker through truss bridge on Township Road 116 near Smithfield, Fulton County, Illinois, built around 1880. It is one of the metal highway bridges of Fulton County.","why_significant":"It is part of a thematic group of surviving metal truss bridges built between 1883 and 1915 over the Spoon River and in Fulton County. The group reflects the improvement of the highway system, as older crossings were replaced with up-to-date steel trusses, and shows changes in steel bridge construction such as Pratt and Parker through trusses. The state evaluated its significance as state level.","narrative":"Tartar's Ferry Bridge carries Township Road 116 near Smithfield in Fulton County, Illinois. Built around 1880, it is a single-span steel Parker through truss with a bottom chord length of 182 feet, a top chord of 142 feet, a height of 20 feet and a width of 17 feet. Its members are joined with pinned connections, with double eyebars used in the bottom chord and diagonals. The structure rests on concrete abutments and has a wooden deck, while its name plate has been lost. The engineer and manufacturer are unknown. The bridge was included in a group of metal highway bridges in Fulton County, chosen because they survive from a period of roadway improvement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In that era, older crossings and ferries were replaced by modern steel trusses. The collection also shows changes in steel bridge design, especially the Pratt and Parker through truss types. The state assessed the bridge as significant at the state level.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Parker through truss","criteria":[],"status_note":"Name plate lost; concrete abutments and wooden deck. The group is described as largely unaltered and in good condition, though plans existed to replace several bridges.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.186769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/8911/28891136/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001363.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001363/078c7ea6b7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001363/078c7ea6b7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fmiser","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarter-ferry-rd-bridge_fulton-county-illinois.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fmiser</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:Tarter-ferry-rd-bridge_fulton-county-illinois.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891136","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarter%27s_Ferry_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7686823"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/fulton-county/tartars-ferry-bridge-80001363/"}