Jersey Bridge (Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania)

Last updated
Jersey Bridge
Jersey Bridge.jpg
The bridge in July 2011
Coordinates 41°36′55″N79°39′27″W / 41.61528°N 79.65750°W / 41.61528; -79.65750
CarriesSR 1011
Crosses Oil Creek
Locale Venango County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other name(s)Bridge in Cherrytree Township
Maintained by PennDOT
NBI #601011001014800 [1]
Characteristics
Total length42.7 m (140 ft) [1]
Width10.1 m (33 ft) [1]
History
Constructed byMorse Bridge Company
Built1882 (1882)
MPS Highway Bridges Owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation TR
NRHP reference No. 88000809 [2]
Added to NRHP22 June 1988
Location
Jersey Bridge (Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania)

The Jersey Bridge is a one-lane, Pratt through truss bridge that spans Oil Creek in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania. It connects the city of Titusville to the Drake Well Museum and Oil Creek State Park. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It was replaced in 1998 with a newer bridge that used the superstructure of the old bridge.

Contents

History

A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation photo of the bridge in 1982 Bridge in Cherrytree Township.jpg
A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation photo of the bridge in 1982

The Jersey Bridge was constructed in 1882 by the Morse Bridge Company, the predecessor to American Bridge Company. [3]

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) instituted a 10 short tons (9.1 t) weight limit for the bridge due to its deteriorating condition in 1979. [4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1988. [2] The bridge was replaced in 1997 to meet safety requirements from PennDOT, as well as to allow tour buses heading to the nearby Drake Well Museum.

The replacement of the bridge, on the only route to and from museum, forced the museum to close on November 2, 1997. [4] The museum was able to reopen in April 1998 after an agreement with the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad, which operates a train station at the museum, to transport tourists from Titusville to Drake Well. [4] The refurbished Jersey Bridge was reopened on May 27, 1998.

Design

After it was rebuilt in 1998, the refurbished Jersey Bridge utilized the original bridge's superstructure, though the actual loadbearing substructure is a common girder bridge. [1] The superstructure remained a pin-connected, Pratt through truss bridge. [3] The bridge is still one-lane, but has a pedestrian walkway on one side of the bridge outside the superstructure.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venango County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805. The county is part of the Northwest Pennsylvania region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil Creek Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania</span> Township of Titusville Pennsylvania in the United States

Oil Creek Township is a township in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,703 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 1,877 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titusville, Pennsylvania</span> City in Pennsylvania, United States

Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,262 at the 2020 census. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for a number of years was the leading oil-producing region in the world. It was also notable for its lumber industry, including 17 sawmills, as well as its plastic and toolmaking industries. It is part of the Meadville micropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Cherrytree Township is a township in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,306 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 1,973 in 2010. It is part of Titusville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drake Well Museum</span> Industry museum in Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Drake Well Museum and Park is a museum in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania that chronicles the birth of the American oil industry in 1859 by Colonel Edwin Drake. The museum collects and preserves related artifacts. The reconstructed Drake Well demonstrates the first practical use of salt drilling techniques for the extraction of petroleum through an oil well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pithole, Pennsylvania</span> Ghost town in Pennsylvania, United States

Pithole, or Pithole City, is a ghost town in Cornplanter Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Oil Creek State Park and the Drake Well Museum, the site of the first commercial oil well in the United States. Pithole's sudden growth and equally rapid decline, as well as its status as a "proving ground" of sorts for the burgeoning petroleum industry, made it one of the most famous of oil boomtowns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil Creek State Park</span> Former oilfield in Pennsylvania

Oil Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 6,250 acres (2,529 ha) in Cherrytree, Cornplanter and Oil Creek Townships, Venango County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is adjacent to Drake Well Museum, the site of the first successful commercial oil well in the United States, that was drilled under the direction of Colonel Edwin Drake. Oil Creek State Park follows Oil Creek, between Titusville and Oil City, and is on Pennsylvania Route 8. While the creek is the park's main recreational attraction, it also contains the sites of the first oil boomtown and much of Pennsylvania's original oil industry. The park contains a museum, tableaux, and trails to help visitors understand the history of the oil industry there, and an excursion train.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cogan House Covered Bridge</span> Covered bridge in Pennsylvania, US

The Cogan House Covered Bridge is a Burr arch truss covered bridge over Larrys Creek in Cogan House Township, Lycoming County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built in 1877 and is 94 feet 2 inches (28.7 m) long. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and underwent a major restoration in 1998. The Cogan House bridge is named for the township and village of Cogan House, and is also known by at least four other names: Buckhorn, Larrys Creek, Day's, and Plankenhorn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hares Hill Road Bridge</span> Historic bridge in Pennsylvania

The Hares Hill Road Bridge is a single-span, wrought iron, bowstring-shaped lattice girder bridge. It was built in 1869 by Moseley Iron Bridge and Roof Company and is the only known surviving example of this kind. The bridge spans French Creek, a Pennsylvania Scenic River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landenberg Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania, United States

The Landenberg Bridge is a truss bridge carrying Landenberg Road across the White Clay Creek in Landenberg, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterford Covered Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania, United States

The Waterford Covered Bridge is a Town lattice truss covered bridge spanning LeBoeuf Creek in Waterford Township, Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1875, and is 85 feet 11 inches (26.2 m) in length. The Waterford Covered Bridge is one of two remaining covered bridges in Erie County, along with the Harrington Covered Bridge. The bridge is also the only Town lattice truss bridge in the county and one of only 19 in Pennsylvania. It was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In 2011, the bridge was closed due to its deteriorating condition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watts Mill Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania, United States

The Watts Mill Bridge is a pin-connected Pratt pony truss bridge located over the Little Beaver Creek in Cannelton, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pithole Stone Arch Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania, United States

The Pithole Stone Arch Bridge is a 37-foot (11 m) masonry, deck arch bridge that spans Pithole Creek between Cornplanter and President Townships, Venango County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inclined Plane Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania, United States

The Inclined Plane Bridge is a 237-foot (72 m), Pennsylvania through truss bridge that spans Stonycreek River in Johnstown, Cambria County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It connects the city to the lower station of the Johnstown Inclined Plane. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drake Well</span> United States historic place

The Drake Well is a 69.5-foot-deep (21.2 m) oil well in Cherrytree Township, Pennsylvania, the success of which sparked the first oil boom in the United States. The well is the centerpiece of the Drake Well Museum located 3 miles (5 km) south of Titusville.

Oil Region National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The national heritage area commemorates and promotes the region surrounding Edwin Drake's oil well of 1859 near Titusville, which gave rise to the modern oil industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge in Clinton Township</span> United States historic place

Bridge in Clinton Township is a historic Pratt through truss bridge located in Clinton Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania. It was built by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio in 1887. It measures 106-foot-long (32 m) and crosses the Scrubgrass Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witherup Bridge</span> United States historic place

Witherup Bridge is a historic Pratt pony truss bridge located in Clinton Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania. It was built by the Canton Bridge Company in 1906. It measures 86-foot-long (26 m) and crosses the Scrubgrass Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straight Street Bridge</span> Bridge in Paterson, New Jersey

The Straight Street Bridge is a vehicular bridge over the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cherrytree Run is a 8.0 mi (12.9 km) long 2nd order tributary to Oil Creek in Venango County, Pennsylvania. This run has the same name as the township, Cherrytree Township, that it drains.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Federal Highway Administration (2010). "State: PA, Place Name: Oilcreek (Township of), County: Venango, NBI Structure Number: 601011001014800". National Bridge Inventory . Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky). Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2011.Note: this is a formatted scrape of the 2010 official website, which can be found here for Pennsylvania: "PA10.txt". Federal Highway Administration. 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Rapp, G. A.; Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (August 13, 1982). "Bridge in Cherrytree Township" (PDF). Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. p. 3. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Carroll, Jim (May 27, 1998). "Unique Bridge Opens in Titusville". Erie Morning News. p. 11B.