Almeda Road Bridge over Brays Bayou
Also known as: B026-01-001
Why it's listed
Carrying four lanes of Almeda Road over Brays Bayou near Hermann Park in Houston, this 149-foot bridge was built in 1931 and remains in use. It has three reinforced concrete girder spans with shallow curves, battered concrete bents, cantilevered sidewalks and a neoclassical urn balustrade railing. City bridge engineer J.G. McKenzie designed it, and contractor Don Hall built it for $33,200 using funds from a 1930 city bond issue. It replaced an earlier timber structure and helped complete the Shreveport-to-Freeport highway through Houston. The bridge reflects the City Beautiful movement in a simplified form. Only eleven historic bridges in Texas have urn balustrade railings, and among them only four Houston bridges, this one included, use concrete girder construction. Although the railing has been damaged and patched with unsympathetic materials, the bridge keeps a high degree of integrity. It was listed for its engineering significance at the state level.
Significance in brief: The bridge is a good example of City Beautiful design applied to a concrete girder structure and is one of a few surviving bayou crossings from Houston's 1930s street improvement bond program. It is one of only eleven historic Texas bridges with a neoclassical urn balustrade railing. It is also a later example of the type, since earlier urn-railed bridges in Texas were closed spandrel arches.
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 07001234, listed November 29, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Almeda Rd. at Brays Bayou, Houston |
|---|---|
| County | Harris County |
| Listed | November 29, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07001234 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1931 |
| Architect / builder | Bridge designer: J.G. McKenzie; Bridge builder: Don Hall |
| Architectural style | OTHER: continuous span concrete girder bridge (City Beautiful design with neoclassical urn balustrade) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a vehicular bridge; the urn balustrade has been damaged and repaired with unsympathetic materials, but the bridge retains a high degree of integrity. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 29.71460, -95.38236 (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 07001234.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q28153531
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.