Bernadotte Bridge
Why it's listed
Bernadotte Bridge carries County Highway 2 at Bernadotte, in the vicinity of Smithfield, Fulton County, Illinois. Built in 1903, it has two steel spans of Pratt truss design: a through truss and a smaller pony truss at the north end. The bridge rests on stone abutments and has a wooden deck. The Central States Bridge Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, manufactured it, and the engineer is not recorded. The through span measures roughly 154 feet along the bottom chord, and the roadway is about 18 feet wide. The bridge was included in a thematic group of early metal highway bridges in Fulton County dating from 1883 to 1915. Together, these bridges show how local roads were improved as fords, ferries and older bridges gave way to modern steel trusses. The group also illustrates changes in steel bridge construction, particularly the Pratt and Parker truss types. The bridges were considered historically significant at the state level and largely unaltered.
Significance in brief: It is one of a group of surviving early metal truss highway bridges in Fulton County, nominated as part of a thematic collection covering 1883-1915. The collection reflects the improvement of the region's highway transportation through the replacement of fords, ferries and older bridges with up-to-date steel trusses. The bridges were also judged to retain their historic integrity.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80001360, listed October 29, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | SR 2, Smithfield |
|---|---|
| County | Fulton County |
| Listed | October 29, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80001360 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architect / builder | Central States Bridge Company, Indianapolis, Indiana (manufacturer); engineer unknown |
| Architectural style | Pratt truss (through and pony) |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | State |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.40366, -90.32089 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80001360.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4892834
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.