{"nrhp_refnum":"81000531","name":"Kutz's Mill Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"NW of Kutztown on T 798, Greenwich Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kutztown","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.53454887100003,"lon":-75.80537367199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A covered bridge spanning Sacony Creek in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, built in 1854 by Bitner and Ahrens. It is a Burr truss structure with a 93-foot end post length and a 16-foot road width.","why_significant":"The nomination identifies it as the last remaining of the 37 original covered bridges in Berks County. It retains a marble tablet over its north portal naming the commissioners and builders, which the nomination says is unique among the county's bridges. The document notes it was listed as part of a thematic group of Berks County covered bridges.","narrative":"Built in 1854 by the firm Bitner and Ahrens, Kutz's Mill Bridge is a covered wooden bridge carrying traffic over Sacony Creek in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It uses a Burr truss design, with a span whose end post measures 93 feet, a roadway 16 feet wide, and a clearance of 11 feet. Its load rating is 20 tons. The bridge is the last surviving one of the 37 original covered bridges built in Berks County. A marble tablet above the north portal names the county commissioners of the day, John McCowan, Benjamin Kutz and Jacob Young, along with the builders, and it is the only surviving bridge in the county with such a tablet. In 1959 a steel deck and steel floor beams were added to give the structure additional support, and repairs were carried out in 1960, recorded on a brass plaque over the south portal.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Bitner and Ahrens (builder)","architectural_style":"Burr truss covered bridge","criteria":[],"status_note":"A steel deck and steel floor beams were added in 1959, and a brass plaque on the south portal records repairs in 1960.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.734717-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/81000531.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000531/aae397c17d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000531/aae397c17d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Dough4872","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kutz%27s_Mill_Covered_Bridge_northbound.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dough4872</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kutz%27s_Mill_Covered_Bridge_northbound.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992370","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutz%27s_Mill_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6448687"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/kutzs-mill-bridge-81000531/"}