Fountain Creek Bridge
Why it's listed
Spanning Fountain Creek south of Illinois Highway 156 near Waterloo, this semi-circular arch bridge is built of coursed limestone. It has a 42-foot span, a 12-foot arch rise and a 46-foot parapet length, with a roadway and parapets together about 20 feet wide. Herman Garleb, a stone mason, built it for Monroe County in 1849 to carry the Dennis Hollow road, one of the county's major routes from the Mississippi River bottoms to the county seat at Waterloo. Traffic used it until the mid-1920s, when construction of state highway 156 moved the road about 100 yards west. It is now unused but remains unaltered and in good condition. It was listed because it is the second largest surviving stone arch bridge in Illinois that served only highway traffic in the nineteenth century. About 100 such bridges were built in Monroe County, most of them small, and this is the largest.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the bridge has statewide significance as the second largest remaining stone arch bridge used in the nineteenth century solely for highway rather than railroad traffic. Of roughly 100 stone-arch highway bridges built in Monroe County, it is the largest. It also illustrates how ancient stone arch construction coexisted with metal truss and reinforced concrete bridges.
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 78001176, listed December 22, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Off IL 156, Waterloo |
|---|---|
| County | Monroe County |
| Listed | December 22, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78001176 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | Herman Garleb |
| Architectural style | Semi-circular arch bridge of coursed limestone |
| Areas of significance | Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as unused and unoccupied; in good condition, unaltered and on its original site. The road was relocated about 100 yards west in the mid-1920s. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 38.32586, -90.19588 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 78001176.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8565022
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.