Walnut Street Bridge
Also known as: Wagners Mill Bridge; County Bridge No. 14
Why it's listed
Spanning the Susquehanna River in Northampton County, the Walnut Street Bridge was completed in 1890 and is almost a mile long, divided by City Island near the middle of the river. Its superstructure was fabricated by the Phoenix Bridge Company in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and assembled on site by Dean & Westbrook of New York. The main supporting members are built of rolled semicircular wrought iron sections riveted together, a method known as the Phoenix Column, which allowed bridges of almost any size to be built from standardized, prefabricated parts. The spans rest on dressed stone piers, and the longer 240-foot spans cross the active channel and were designed to allow passage for logging operations and coal barges, both once common on the Susquehanna. Few large wrought iron bridges of this type remain, and this one is considered among the best surviving examples of the Phoenix Column in the East.
Significance in brief: The bridge is built with the Phoenix Column, a rolled wrought iron construction method patented by Samuel Reeves, which was among the most popular bridge types in the United States from about 1867 to the late nineteenth century. It is regarded as one of the last surviving and best-preserved multispan Phoenix bridges in the East, and one of the last large bridges made of wrought iron.
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). NRHP reference 100008901, listed May 8, 2023. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 200 ft. west of the intersection of Walnut St. and the Saucon Valley Rail Tr., Hellertown |
|---|---|
| County | Northampton County |
| Listed | May 8, 2023 |
| Reference number | 100008901 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1889-1890 |
| Architect / builder | Phoenix Bridge Co. (fabrication); Dean & Westbrook (assembly) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Engineering |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Otherwise sound; the bridge needs repainting and some pier repair, and handles about 8,000 cars daily. Steel lattice flooring replaced the original wooden planks and steel guard rails were welded to the sides. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.57254, -75.34363 (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 100008901.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives)
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.