Property Record
OAK CREEK PKWY AT UP RAILROAD - OAK CREEK PARKWAY
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Chicago & NorthWestern Railroad Overpass |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | C&NW Railroad Overpass (Bridge No. P-40-0571) |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 142240 |
| Location (Address): | OAK CREEK PKWY AT UP RAILROAD - OAK CREEK PARKWAY |
|---|---|
| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | South Milwaukee |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1883 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | C. 1935 |
| Survey Date: | 201120062018 |
| Historic Use: | stone arch bridge |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | Stone |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Oak Creek Parkway |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | 6/27/2011 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/20/2010 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Milwaukee County Parkway System |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' titled "Oak Creek Parkway Railroad Bridge (Bridge No. P-40-0571)" exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. 2018- The Oak Creek Bridge (C&NWRR Bridge No. 1526) is located in the City of South Milwaukee in Milwaukee County. It was built in 1883 after a standard plan by the Chicago & North Western Railway. The contractor is not known. The structure is a rock-faced, course-ashlar, limestone bridge with 2 semicircular, 32-ft arches. The ring stones have a smooth margin on the bottom edge. There are heavily battered, 45-degree-angle wing walls at the 4 corners. A date stone on the west elevation bears the inscription “1883”. When originally constructed, the bridge conformed to a standard stone-arch plan used by the Chicago & North Western Railway in the construction of at least 6 other bridges in Wisconsin. At an undetermined date, both elevations were reinforced with metal braces above each arch. In 1951, the south arch was reinforced with a concrete and corrugated-metal lining. In 1955, the north arch received the same treatment. 2007, 2011- Two-span concrete bridge with stone veneer and corrugated metal over interior arches. 2011- Resurveyed; appearance unchanged. Two-span, concrete bridge with stone veneer and corrugated metal over interior arches. 2006- This is a two-arch, cut stone railroad bridge that likely dates to the late nineteenth century and carries the historic Chicago & North Western tracks over Oak Creek. Oriented on a north/south axis, the northern arch facilitates the passage of Oak Creek itself, while the south arch spans the Oak Creek Parkway. The prominence of its construction material notwithstanding, two distinctive characteristics of the bridge are the steel braces above each arch that extend the width of the structure and provide structural rigidity, and the concrete lining of each arch. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | Inscription. Interstate Commerce Commission Bureau of Valuation drawing of the bridge and it is dated May 24, 1921. (The ICC Valuation records document every railroad asset in the country circa 1915 to 1922 or so). It gives built dates of 1883 and 1890. Hess, Jeffrey A. and Robert M. Frame, III. "Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, Volume I: Stone and Concrete Arch Bridges." Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 1986. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |