{"nrhp_refnum":"87001923","name":"Hunting Creek Railroad Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Hunting Creek N of US 64 & 70 between jct. of Stonebridge Rd. & E. Union St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Morganton","county":"Burke County","state":"NC","lat":35.75156749900003,"lon":-81.65835645099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-span arched stone railroad bridge crossing Hunting Creek just north of Highway 64-70 in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, built around 1860 for the Western North Carolina Railroad.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the bridge is a rare surviving antebellum stone railroad bridge and among the oldest surviving railroad structures in the state. It is believed to be the earliest surviving resource tied to extending the Western North Carolina Railroad westward. It is also significant in engineering for its construction technique.","narrative":"Spanning Hunting Creek just north of Highway 64-70 in Morganton, this two-span stone railroad bridge dates to about 1860, when the Western North Carolina Railroad was preparing to extend from Salisbury to Morganton and on toward Asheville. Construction halted with the Civil War, and trains did not use the line until about 1868. The bridge is 130 feet long, stands about 24 feet above the creek, and carries an eight-foot-wide stone bed on arches of rusticated, coursed ashlar with stone voussoirs. It was abandoned when locomotives grew too heavy for it and was replaced by later bridges, including an iron one built in 1910 almost directly above it. The form suggests contractor William Murdoch may have built it, though records do not confirm this. It was listed as a rare surviving stone railroad bridge, notable for its engineering and as the earliest surviving reminder of the railroad's push into western North Carolina.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1860 - ca. 1890","architect_builder":"Unknown (may be the work of contractor William Murdoch)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Abandoned and unoccupied; track removed but the structure is described as completely intact and appearing solid. Relatively inaccessible, with dense underbrush around it.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.883313-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/7173/47717366/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/87001923.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001923/9c4c82dc8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001923/9c4c82dc8f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Tonyleeglenn","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunting-Creek-Bridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tonyleeglenn</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunting-Creek-Bridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717366","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_Creek_Railroad_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18152121"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/burke-county/hunting-creek-railroad-bridge-87001923/"}