Valley Railroad Bridge
Valley Railroad Bridge | |
 Looking toward the bridge from Mill Road | |
   | |
| Location | 1002 Newman Dr., Salem, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°18′14″N 80°2′43″W / 37.30389°N 80.04528°W |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1873 |
| Architect | Thomas K. Menifee |
| NRHP reference No. | 09000617[1] |
| VLR No. | 129-5023 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 12, 2009 |
| Designated VLR | June 18, 2009[2] |
Valley Railroad Bridge is a historic limestone arch bridge located over Gish Branch at Salem, Virginia. It was built in 1873 by the firm of Claiborne Rice (C.R.) Mason, under the local guidance of Thomas Menifee, engineer and employee of Mason. Mason was head of a syndicate hoping to link major railways of the north and south at Salem, Virginia - specifically by linking the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, two of the major railways of the era.
Menifee and the other members of the Mason Syndicate began work on May 20, 1873. By late November, 1874, the roadbed had been brought to grade from the Botetourt county line to the outskirts of Salem just south of Gish Branch. All but the major stream crossings, Carvins, Peters and Mason Creeks were complete, awaiting additional funding. However, the September 1873 national financial panic and the resulting depression led the Mason Syndicate to abandon the Salem and Lexington connection. Today, the Gish Branch Bridge is an important part of the Roanoke Valley’s railroad heritage. It is the largest of the three remaining arch structures built by Menifee, the other structures and much of the completed roadbed destroyed by the passage of time and the increasing residential development of the area.
The Valley Railroad Bridge is a single-span, barrel-vaulted stone structure. The bridge structure is a semi-circular vaulted tunnel through a man-made earthen embankment. The bridge is an architecturally significant remnant of an unrealized transportation scheme dating to the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War. The Valley Railroad was never completed to Salem, therefore the bridge, constructed in 1873, never fulfilled its intended purpose.[3]
The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ John R. Hildebrand and Michael J. Pulice (February 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Valley Railroad Bridge" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
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- Railroad bridges in Virginia
- Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
- Bridges completed in 1873
- Buildings and structures in Salem, Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Virginia
- Stone arch bridges in the United States
- 1873 establishments in Virginia
- Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Registered Historic Place stubs
- Southern United States bridge (structure) stubs
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