{"nrhp_refnum":"81000533","name":"Pleasantville Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S of Mantawny on T 916, Oley Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oley","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.379046293000044,"lon":-75.73872242899995,"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 wooden Burr arch truss bridge over Little Manatawny Creek in Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was first built in 1852 and roofed and rebuilt in 1856.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the bridge as a covered Burr arch bridge and one of the few surviving examples of the county's covered bridges, which is the basis for listing as part of a thematic group. Its builders' marble tablets and two construction dates are cited as distinctive features.","narrative":"Burr arch covered bridge across Little Manatawny Creek in Oley Township, Berks County. David Renno built the open wooden span in 1852, one lane and one span, 16 feet wide and 128 feet long. Lumber shortages after the Great Flood of 1850 had left it uncovered. In 1856 Jonathan Bitner raised the sides, added a roof and a third arch, and set new support posts on the existing ones. Marble tablets over the two portals name both builders and their dates, which the nomination notes was unusual among the county's covered bridges. A stone on the northwest railing records a mason, Levi Marks, from 1852. The roof was replaced in 1950, and cracked beams were replaced with steel I-beams in 1964. A truck carrying a backhoe broke ten of the thirteen ceiling beams in 1975, and the bridge reopened that August after repairs.","period_of_significance":"1852-1856","architect_builder":"David Renno and Jonathan Bitner (builders)","architectural_style":"Burr arch truss","criteria":["C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.259843-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/81000533.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000533/7a4f6a1c29-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000533/7a4f6a1c29-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pleasantville_Covered_Bridge_Oct_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pleasantville_Covered_Bridge_Oct_09.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83002218","name":"Oley Township Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/oley-township-historic-district-83002218/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992374","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasantville_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7204157"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/pleasantville-bridge-81000533/"}