King Street Overhead Bridge
Why it's listed
Carrying King Street over the paired Norfolk Southern tracks at the edge of downtown Kings Mountain, this reinforced concrete bridge was built between October 1938 and April 1939. Its rigid-frame design has an open arched span of about forty-eight feet, concrete abutments with stepped pilasters, and an openwork iron railing painted green. The design came from the Raleigh office of William L. Craven, chief bridge engineer for the State Highway and Public Works Commission, and L. Riddle and Company of Asheville built it. Until a narrow railroad-built bridge appeared in 1919, town streets crossed the tracks at grade, and growing traffic made a better crossing urgent. Town council approved the project in June 1938 as US 74 was being improved. The bridge is regarded as the earliest surviving rigid-frame bridge built by the state highway commission, a type used mostly on the Blue Ridge Parkway elsewhere, and it remains a highly visible local landmark.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is locally significant for community planning and development, as it answered a long-standing need for an overhead railroad crossing in a growing textile town. It is statewide significant in engineering as the earliest surviving rigid-frame bridge erected by the State Highway and Public Works Commission, designed in William L. Craven's office with Art Deco-influenced Moderne styling.
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 05000268, listed April 6, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | King St. Bet. Battleground and Railroad Aves., Kings Mountain |
|---|---|
| County | Cleveland County |
| Listed | April 6, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000268 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1938-1939 |
| Architect / builder | Craven, William L.-engineer; L (andon) Riddle & Company - builder; Ballenger Paving Co. - contractor |
| Architectural style | Other: rigid-frame bridge (Moderne styling) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as well preserved and intact, still carrying King Street/Business US 74 over the railroad; replacement metal lamp standards are noted. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 35.24086, -81.34458 (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 05000268.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18153169
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.