{"nrhp_refnum":"88000782","name":"Bridge in Portage Township","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"PA 53 over Bens Creek","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oil City","county":"Cambria County","state":"PA","lat":40.40242069200008,"lon":-78.63922257299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-span stone arch railroad bridge over Bens Creek in Cassandra Borough, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, carrying a state road on its top. It is an 18-foot span built of rock-faced coursed ashlar.","why_significant":"The nomination states the bridge is unusual chiefly for its historical association with the Allegheny Portage Railroad, a system of inclined planes that carried canal boats over the Allegheny Mountains and linked the eastern and western divisions of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal. It is described as a handsome example of a circular arch railroad bridge and one of two early examples of ashlar construction in the thematic group. Transportation and engineering are the areas of significance.","narrative":"Built in 1832 over Bens Creek in Cassandra Borough, Cambria County, this single 18-foot stone arch bridge carries a state road over the creek. It is a circular arch built of rock-faced coursed ashlar, with abutments and intrados of the same stone and wedge-shaped voussoirs. The structure is associated with the Allegheny Portage Railroad, which opened between 1832 and 1834 and linked the eastern and western divisions of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal by hauling canal boats over the Allegheny Mountains on a series of inclined planes. The bridge is one of two stone arch examples on the railroad included in this group of nominations, and it is one of two early ashlar-built examples in the group. Its significance rests mainly on transportation history and engineering. The nominated area is a rectangle about 18 by 30 feet, covering the superstructure and substructure and the outside corners of the wing walls, and totals less than one acre.","period_of_significance":"1832","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Semi-circular stone arch","criteria":[],"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 17:11:36.330242-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88000782.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000782/c26d764746-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000782/c26d764746-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridge_in_Portage_Township_with_snow.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridge_in_Portage_Township_with_snow.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992490","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_in_Portage_Township","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4966370"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/cambria-county/bridge-in-portage-township-88000782/"}