List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Did you know that many old and important bridges in Texas are special? They are listed on something called the National Register of Historic Places. This is like a hall of fame for buildings, places, and objects that are important to American history. When a bridge is on this list, it means it's worth protecting and remembering because of its history or how it was built.

Texas has many such bridges. They show us how people traveled and built things long ago. Let's explore some of these amazing historic bridges!

Historic Bridges Across Texas
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Historic Bridges Across Texas

Texas is a big state with many rivers and bayous. Because of this, bridges have always been super important for people to travel and move goods. The bridges on this list are not just old; they are special because of their unique designs, their age, or the role they played in local history.

Bridges in Houston and Surrounding Areas

Houston, a large city in Texas, has several historic bridges. These bridges helped the city grow by connecting different areas.

Almeda Road Bridge over Brays Bayou

Built: 1931
Location: Houston
Type: This bridge is a continuous span concrete beam bridge. This means it's made of strong concrete beams that stretch across the water.
What makes it special: It's a great example of how bridges were built in the early 20th century to handle more traffic as cities grew.

Hill Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou

Built: 1938
Location: Houston
Type: A steel beam bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is a good example of how steel was used to create strong and lasting bridges.

McKee Street Bridge

Built: 1932
Location: Houston
Type: A continuous span concrete beam bridge.
What makes it special: Like the Almeda Road Bridge, this one shows the popular concrete beam design used in the 1930s.

Sabine Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou

Built: 1924
Location: Houston
Type: A concrete span bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is an early example of concrete construction in Houston.

San Jacinto Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou

Built: 1914
Location: Houston
Type: A concrete arch bridge.
What makes it special: Arch bridges are known for their strength and beauty, and this one is a fine example from the early 1900s.

State Highway 35 Bridge at the West Fork of the San Jacinto River

Built: 1930-1931
Location: Humble
Type: A Parker through truss bridge.
What makes it special: Truss bridges use a framework of triangles to support the weight, making them very strong.

Telephone Road Bridge over Brays Bayou

Built: 1931
Location: Houston
Type: A continuous span concrete bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is another example of the common concrete designs used in the Houston area during the 1930s.

Washburn Tunnel

Built: 1947
Location: Houston
Type: A subaqueous tunnel.
What makes it special: While not a bridge, this tunnel is also listed as a historic structure because it goes under the water, which was a big engineering feat!

Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou

Built: 1931
Location: Houston
What makes it special: This bridge is part of Houston's historic transportation network.

Bridges in Central Texas

Central Texas, including cities like Austin and Waco, also has many old bridges that are important to history.

Brazoria Bridge

Built: 1939
Location: Brazoria
Type: A Parker through truss bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is a good example of the Parker truss design, which was popular for its strength.

Bunton Branch Bridge

Built: 1915, 1917, 1932
Location: Kyle
Type: A concrete arch bridge.
What makes it special: Arch bridges are known for their classic look and durability.

Colorado River Bridge at Bastrop

Built: 1923
Location: Bastrop
Type: A Parker through truss bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge helped connect communities across the Colorado River.

Faust Street Bridge

Built: 1887
Location: New Braunfels
What makes it special: This is a very old bridge, showing how people built crossings over a century ago.

Iron Bridge (Bastrop, Texas)

Built: 1883
Location: Bastrop
Type: A truss type bridge.
What makes it special: One of the oldest bridges on the list, it's a testament to early bridge building in Texas.

Lamar Boulevard Bridge

Built: 1941-1942
Location: Austin
Type: A continuous span concrete arch bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is a key part of Austin's history and transportation.

Montopolis Bridge

Built: 1937-1938
Location: Austin
Type: A Parker through truss bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is a well-known landmark in Austin.

Moore's Crossing Bridge

Built: 1922
Location: Austin
Type: A Parker through truss bridge.
What makes it special: It's part of a larger historic district, showing how important it was to the area.

Mueller Bridge

Built: 1915
Location: La Vernia
Type: A Warren polygonal chord truss.
What makes it special: This type of truss bridge uses a unique zigzag pattern for strength.

Nolan River Bridge 303-A of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway

Built: 1903
Location: Cty. Rd. 1127 at Nolan R.
What makes it special: This railway bridge is an important piece of railroad history.

Paddock Viaduct

Built: 1912-1914
Location: Fort Worth
Type: A continuous span concrete arch.
What makes it special: Viaducts are long bridges that carry roads or railways over valleys or other obstacles.

Regency Suspension Bridge

Built: 1939
Location: Regency
Type: A suspension bridge.
What makes it special: Suspension bridges are famous for their long main spans, held up by cables. This one is a beautiful example.

Riverside Swinging Bridge

Built: 1904
Location: Riverside
Type: A Pratt through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge is known for its "swinging" motion, which makes it unique!

State Highway 19 Bridge at Trinity River

Built: 1940
Location: Riverside
Type: A Parker through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge is another example of the strong Parker truss design.

State Highway 27 Bridge at Johnson Fork

Built: 1937-1938
Location: Junction
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 27 Bridge at the Guadalupe River

Built: 1937-1938
Location: Cuero
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 27 Bridge at the South Llano River

Built: 1936-1937
Location: Junction
Type: A Warren through truss.

State Highway 29 Bridge at the Colorado River

Built: 1937
Location: Buchanan Dam
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 3 Bridge at the Colorado River

Built: 1931-1932
Location: Columbus
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 3 Bridge at the Nueces River

Built: 1932, 1933, 1935
Location: Uvalde
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 3 Bridge at the Trinity River

Built: 1929-1930
Location: Liberty
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 3-A Bridge at Cibolo Creek

Built: 1932-1933
Location: Schertz
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum Creek

Built: 1930-1931
Location: Luling
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 53 Bridge at the Leon River

Built: 1938-1939
Location: Belton
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 71 Bridge at the Colorado River

Built: 1940-1941
Location: La Grange
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 89 Bridge at the Brazos River

Built: 1933-1934
Location: Millsap
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 9 Bridge at the Llano River

Built: 1936
Location: Mason
Type: A Warren polygonal chord truss.

Third Street Railroad Trestle

Built: Around 1922
Location: Austin
Type: A trestle bridge.
What makes it special: Trestle bridges use a series of short spans supported by frames, often used for railroads.

US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River

Built: 1939-1940
Location: Lometa
Type: A Warren polygonal chord truss.

US 281 Bridge at the Brazos River

Built: 1938-1939
Location: Santo
Type: A Warren polygonal chord truss.

Waco Suspension Bridge

Built: 1870
Location: Waco
Type: A suspension bridge.
What makes it special: This is one of the oldest and most famous suspension bridges in Texas, a true landmark!

Washington Avenue Bridge (Waco, Texas)

Built: 1902
Location: Waco
Type: A Pennsylvania through truss.

West Fifth Street Bridge at Shoal Creek

Built: 1931
Location: Austin
Type: A cantilever girder.

West Sixth Street Bridge at Shoal Creek

Built: 1887
Location: Austin
Type: A masonry arch.
What makes it special: This bridge is a beautiful example of older construction using stone or brick arches.

Bridges in East Texas

East Texas is home to bridges that cross major rivers and connect Texas with neighboring states.

Angelina River Bridge

Built: 1935
Location: Lufkin
Type: A span concrete beam.
What makes it special: This bridge was unfortunately demolished around 1998, but it was once a historic crossing.

Burr's Ferry Bridge

Built: 1936-1937
Location: Burkeville
Type: A Parker through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge connects Texas and Louisiana across the Sabine River.

Cow Bayou Swing Bridge

Built: 1940
Location: Bridge City
What makes it special: Swing bridges can rotate to allow boats to pass through, which is a cool feature!

Deweyville Swing Bridge

Built: 1936
Location: Deweyville
What makes it special: Another swing bridge, important for both road and river traffic.

Port Arthur-Orange Bridge

Built: 1936-1938
Location: Groves
Type: A cantilever through truss.
What makes it special: Cantilever bridges are built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported only at one end.

US 190 Bridge at the Neches River

Built: 1941-1943
Location: Jasper
Type: A Parker through truss.

Bridges in West Texas and the Panhandle

The western parts of Texas also have important historic bridges, often crossing wide rivers or canyons.

Beaver Creek Bridge

Built: 1925
Location: Electra
Type: A Warren pony truss.
What makes it special: Pony truss bridges have their trusses on the sides, but they don't connect overhead.

Bedstead Truss Bridge

Built:
Location: Schulenburg
What makes it special: This bridge has a unique "bedstead" design.

Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge

Built: Around 1895, with changes in 1925 and 1934
Location: Bluff Dale
Type: A Cable-stayed bridge.
What makes it special: Cable-stayed bridges use cables directly connected to the towers to support the bridge deck.

Colorado River Bridge (Wharton, Texas)

Built: 1930
Location: Wharton
Type: A Parker through truss.

Cummins Creek Bridge

Built: 1890
Location: Round Top
Type: A Pratt through truss.
What makes it special: The Pratt truss is a very common and effective truss design.

East Navidad River Bridge

Built: 1923
Location: Schulenburg
What makes it special: This bridge is part of the historic crossings in the Schulenburg area.

Fort Griffin Brazos River Bridge

Built: 1885
Location: Fort Griffin
Type: A Pratt through truss.
What makes it special: This old iron bridge is a great example of 19th-century engineering.

Gregory Road Bridge at Duck Creek

Built: 1923
Location: Sanger
Type: A Warren pony truss.

Hubbard Creek Bridge

Built: 1928-1929
Location: Albany
Type: A Pratt through truss.

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway and Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Overpass

Built: 1935
Location: Sweetwater
Type: A concrete arched-girder.
What makes it special: This overpass is part of a historic commercial district.

Lone Wolf Crossing Bridge

Built: 1922
Location: San Angelo
Type: A Pratt through truss.

Medio Creek Bridge

Built: 1897, with changes in 1923
Location: Normanna
Type: A Pratt through truss.

Mulberry Creek Bridge

Built: 1888
Location: Schulenburg
Type: A Pratt pony truss.
What makes it special: This bridge was removed from the National Register in 2013, but it was once considered historic.

Rector Road Bridge at Clear Creek

Built: 1907-1908
Location: Sanger
Type: A Pratt through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge was moved to a new location to preserve it.

Roma-San Pedro International Bridge

Built: 1927-1928
Location: Roma-Los Saenz
Type: A suspension bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge connects the United States with Mexico, making it an international landmark!

Route 66 Bridge over the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad

Built: 1932
Location: Shamrock
What makes it special: This bridge is part of the famous historic Route 66, a legendary highway across America.

State Highway 16 Bridge at the Brazos River

Built: 1938-1939
Location: Benjamin
Type: A Warren through truss.

State Highway 23 Bridge at the Clear Fork of the Brazos River

Built: 1929
Location: Albany
Type: A Parker through truss.

State Highway 34 Bridge at the Trinity River

Built: 1933-1934
Location: Rosser
Type: A Parker through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge was demolished around 1996, but it was once a historic crossing.

State Highway 5 Bridge at High Creek

Built: 1920, 1921, 1935
Location: Brookston
Type: A Warren pony truss.

State Highway 78 Bridge at the Red River

Built: 1937-1938
Location: Ravenna
Type: A K through truss.
What makes it special: The K-truss design is a specific type of truss that looks like a series of "K" shapes.

State Highway 79 Bridge at the Red River

Built: 1939
Location: Byers
Type: A Camelback pony truss.

State Highway Bridge 5 at Big Pine Creek

Built: 1920, 1921, 1935
Location: Brookston
Type: A Warren pony truss.

Texas and New Orleans Railroad Bridge

Built: 1903
Location: Wharton
Type: A Camelback/Pratt through truss.

US 83 Bridge at the Salt Fork of the Red River

Built: 1939
Location: Wellington
Type: A Parker through truss.
What makes it special: This bridge was demolished around 2012, but it was once a historic part of the area.

Other Notable Bridges

Allen Water Station

Built: 1910
Location: Allen
What makes it special: This isn't a bridge itself, but it's part of a historic district that includes important structures from the past.

Brackenridge Park Bridge

Built: 1890
Location: San Antonio
Type: A Lenticular truss bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is part of the historic Brackenridge Park. Lenticular truss bridges have a unique lens-like shape.

Dionicio Rodriguez Bridge in Brackenridge Park

Built: Around 1926
Location: San Antonio
Type: Faux Bois sculpture.
What makes it special: This bridge is famous for its artistic design, made to look like natural wood, but it's actually concrete!

Galveston Causeway

Built: 1912, with changes in 1922
Location: Galveston
Type: A concrete arch.
What makes it special: This causeway is a long bridge that connects Galveston Island to the mainland.

Hays Street Bridge

Built: 1908
Location: San Antonio
Type: A truss bridge.
What makes it special: This bridge is part of a group of historic bridges in Texas.

Houston Street Viaduct

Built: 1910-1911
Location: Dallas
Type: A continuous span concrete arch.
What makes it special: This viaduct is a major historic crossing in Dallas.

These bridges are more than just ways to get from one place to another. They are important parts of Texas history, showing us how people built things, traveled, and connected communities over many years.

Images for kids

Almeda Road Bridge
Beaver Creek Bridge
Bedstead Truss Bridge
Bluff Dale Suspension Bridge
Brackenridge Park Bridge
Brazoria Bridge
Bunton Branch Bridge
Burr's Ferry Bridge
Colorado River Bridge
Colorado River Bridge at Bastrop
Cow Bayou Swing Bridge
Cummins Creek Bridge
Deweyville Swing Bridge
Dionicio Rodriguez Bridge in Brackenridge Park
East Navidad River Bridge
Faust Street Bridge
Fort Griffin Brazos River Bridge
Galveston Causeway
Hays Street Bridge
Hill Street Bridge
Houston Street Viaduct
Hubbard Creek Bridge
Iron Bridge
Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway and Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Overpass
Lamar Boulevard Bridge
Lone Wolf Crossing Bridge
McKee Street Bridge
Medio Creek Bridge
Montopolis Bridge
Moore's Crossing Bridge
Mulberry Creek Bridge
Nolan River Bridge 303-A
Paddock Viaduct
Port Arthur-Orange Bridge
Rector Road Bridge at Clear Creek
Regency Suspension Bridge
Riverside Swinging Bridge
Route 66 Bridge over the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad
Sabine Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou
San Jacinto Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou
State Highway 16 Bridge at the Brazos River
State Highway 19 Bridge at Trinity River
State Highway 23 Bridge at the Clear Fork of the Brazos River
State Highway 27 Bridge at Johnson Fork
State Highway 27 Bridge at the Guadalupe River
State Highway 27 Bridge at the South Llano River
State Highway 29 Bridge at the Colorado River
State Highway 3 Bridge at the Colorado River
State Highway 3 Bridge at the Nueces River
State Highway 3 Bridge at the Trinity River
State Highway 35 Bridge at the West Fork of the San Jacinto River
State Highway 3-A Bridge at Cibolo Creek
State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum Creek
State Highway 53 Bridge at the Leon River
State Highway 71 Bridge at the Colorado River
State Highway 78 Bridge at the Red River
State Highway 79 Bridge at the Red River
State Highway 89 Bridge at the Brazos River
State Highway 9 Bridge at the Llano River
Texas and New Orleans Railroad Bridge
Third Street Railroad Trestle
US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River
US 281 Bridge at the Brazos River
Waco Suspension Bridge
Washburn Tunnel
Washington Avenue Bridge
West Fifth Street Bridge at Shoal Creek
West Sixth Street Bridge at Shoal Creek
Yale Street Bridge over White Oak Bayou

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List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.