San Jacinto Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou
Also known as: B570-17-001
Why it's listed
Carrying San Jacinto Street across Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston, this 1914 bridge is a 325-foot concrete structure with eight spans. Its main span is a 110-foot open-spandrel barrel arch, flanked by reinforced concrete girder approach spans, and the roadway is 50 feet wide. City engineer E.E. Sands designed it, and the William P. Carmichael Company of St. Louis built it for $155,000. It replaced an earlier iron drawbridge, and the arch's height let boats pass beneath without a movable span. Builders drove piles twenty-three feet into clay and used an open centering so water traffic could continue during construction. The bridge reflects Houston's City Beautiful campaign, with Classical-inspired details such as brackets, curved fascia walls and urn balustrades. A 1997 project replaced the deck, sidewalks and railing, but the arch kept its integrity. It is listed as one of only twenty-three open-spandrel arch bridges in Texas, and is still in use by traffic today.
Significance in brief: The bridge is one of only twenty-three open-spandrel arch bridges in Texas. It reflects City Beautiful design influences from Houston's Mayor H.B. Rice era. It keeps the character-defining features of its type, notably the barrel arch ring and open spandrel design, despite a 1997 replacement of the deck, sidewalks and railing.
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 07001098, listed October 16, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | San Jacinto St. at Buffalo Bayou, Houston |
|---|---|
| County | Harris County |
| Listed | October 16, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07001098 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1914 |
| Architect / builder | Bridge designer: E.E. Sands; Bridge builder: William P. Carmichael Company |
| Architectural style | Other: open spandrel concrete arch bridge |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Engineering |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in use as a vehicular bridge; the deck, sidewalks and railing were replaced in 1997 with a compatible railing design. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Main Street/Market Square Historic District |
| Coordinates | 29.76487, -95.35783 (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 07001098.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q60750320
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.