Bridge in Oil Creek Township
Why it's listed
Built in 1896 by the Massillion Bridge Company, this single-span highway bridge over Oil Creek in Oil Creek Township, Crawford County, is a Pratt through truss, a form in which vertical members are paired with diagonals sloping toward the centre. The structure is 124 feet long overall and 25 feet wide, carried on steel superstructure supplied by Cambria Steel Company, with stone and masonry abutments and wing walls. The truss is pin-connected, with eyebar members and diamond-pattern railings. The bridge is one of fourteen representative examples of this truss type included in a group nomination of Commonwealth-owned highway bridges. Its significance rests on engineering: it is regarded as a very well preserved example of a bridge type common in northwestern Pennsylvania. A timber deck was repaired in 1978, and the form records the bridge as altered from its original state. Its use is vehicular, carrying traffic across the creek in a rural setting.
Significance in brief: The nomination describes the bridge as a typical example of the Pratt through truss and a very well preserved example of a bridge type used frequently in northwestern Pennsylvania. It is one of fourteen representative examples of this truss type included in the nomination. The area of significance is engineering.
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 88000833, listed June 22, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | LR 20132 over Oil Creek, Titusville |
|---|---|
| County | Crawford County |
| Listed | June 22, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000833 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architectural style | Pratt through truss |
| Areas of significance | Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The form records a 1978 repair of the existing timber deck. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.62946, -79.70265 (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 88000833.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4966371
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.