{"nrhp_refnum":"90000393","name":"Pennsylvania Railroad District","other_names":["Conrail:Little Juniata River Bridges and Tunnels,Spruce Cree"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Conrail mile markers 213.73 to 218.88","address_restricted":false,"city":"Spruce Creek","county":"Huntingdon County","state":"PA","lat":40.61318403550004,"lon":-78.15160193384014,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A railroad district of ten stone arch bridges, two parallel tunnels and the connecting right-of-way on the former Pennsylvania Railroad main line, running 5.15 miles through Huntingdon County between the village of Spruce Creek and the Borough of Birmingham.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant for engineering, since the railroad's route followed the Little Juniata River through mountain ridges and required many river crossings and tunnels. It is also argued to be significant for its role as an important transportation link between Philadelphia and Altoona and Pittsburgh.","narrative":"Ten stone arch railroad bridges, two parallel tunnels and the connecting right-of-way form a 5.15-mile railroad district in northwestern Huntingdon County, between Spruce Creek and Birmingham. The Pennsylvania Railroad built the line through the mountain ridges along the Little Juniata River, where the terrain forced the track to cross the river repeatedly and pass through Tussey Mountain. The bridges were constructed of stone ashlar in multiple semi-circular arches, replacing earlier iron deck truss and deck girder structures, and between 1886 and 1963 many were strengthened or widened with concrete and steel. The first tunnel, 1151 feet long, was built in 1850 for a single track, and a second 1075-foot tunnel was added in 1900 during the four-tracking of the main line. The district is regarded as an engineering achievement and as a key link in rail transportation between Philadelphia and the west.","period_of_significance":"1850-1939","architect_builder":"Pennsylvania Railroad","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The two tunnels are in use, with the 1850 tunnel carrying a single eastbound track and the 1900 tunnel a single westbound track.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.135645-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/90000393.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000393/a8064b0109-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000393/a8064b0109-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skew_Bridge_Huntingdon_Co_PRR_HD.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skew_Bridge_Huntingdon_Co_PRR_HD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993035","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7164041"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/huntingdon-county/pennsylvania-railroad-district-90000393/"}