{"nrhp_refnum":"80002783","name":"Kingston-Port Ewen Suspension Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"U.S. 9W","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kingston and","county":"Ulster County","state":"NY","lat":41.91731677800004,"lon":-73.98508341599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A steel suspension bridge carrying U.S. Route 9W across Rondout Creek between Kingston and Port Ewen, Ulster County, New York. It was built between 1919 and 1921 and opened to traffic in May 1922.","why_significant":"The bridge completed New York's first north-south automobile highway along the Hudson's West Shore and is presented as an important engineering achievement of early motoring. It showed the leading technological and design features of its time. It has also become a prominent visual landmark of the Rondout Creek setting.","narrative":"Carrying U.S. Route 9W over Rondout Creek, this suspension bridge links Port Ewen on the south with the city of Kingston on the north. Riveted steel towers rise 153 feet on concrete piers and support cables across a 1,145-foot span, with a reinforced concrete deck about 86 feet above the water. Local frustration with unreliable chain ferry service in the nineteenth century prompted the idea of a crossing, and in 1916 New York State committed to building it as part of a highway system designed for automobiles. Heavy commercial shipping on the creek led planners to choose a clear span rather than a design with a midstream pier. Terry & Tench Co. received the contract in 1920, and the steel work was finished in November 1921. The bridge opened in May 1922. It completed the first north-south automobile highway along the Hudson's West Shore and remains a visual landmark and a busy route into Kingston.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1921)","architect_builder":"Terry & Tench Co.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered; the bridge continues to carry a heavy volume of daily traffic.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.476994-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002783.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002783/1bca5ca0fc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002783/1bca5ca0fc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Skeat78 at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KingstontoPEbridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Skeat78 at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"http://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:KingstontoPEbridge.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001641","name":"Rondout-West Strand Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/rondout-west-strand-historic-district-79001641/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322650","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston%E2%80%93Port_Ewen_Suspension_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6413678"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ulster-county/kingston-port-ewen-suspension-bridge-80002783/"}