< Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR T ATE: (Rev. 6-72) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE New Jersey
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NFS USE ONLY E NTRY DATE • (Type all entries - 'complete applicable sections^ DEC * 4 19/4 ^il^f^t^-^^^ !oi':":'""::]"!v"::: i1:: :''l:>:v- :::i ;• *:f||^^|^|f" :|; .:; ;• ?'-'"l» «• ^•fii Illlf COMMON; ' " ....«,... Bridge FC-.64-Hamden •- • - - AND/ OR HISTORIC: • Fink-Type Truss Bridge *$$•!!. :. 7: V •' '" • ; &.&1 r &: ? f- :';f ::'.:;: f. ; .-: ^ f y :^ '; • .. x ^ :j •:•;:" j: |: f : :;;- : .- f' ^ • ^: i^* r .;:: ';;; -;; •;; ^l?'-v'^l^'^^;:: .;r ' i;:-^ : ;|:'|;:|:fl;||:|::||:i STREET^AND NUMBER:'* 6otm t y-Rout e—2-7 •over- the South Branch of the Raritan River • A ft * ^ CITY OR TOWN: ~ " ' •£«*—>*.•* ^-\M 'i\ * ^ ~* (•' C DNGRESSIONAL- DISTRICT: • *GM~nt-on-and"Frank-lin* Townships^' 13th ' STATE • • CODE CcJUNTY: ' ' ' CODE New Jersey 34 Hunterdon 019 j#|f£lA$'5t^i£^X3;H;' • :::i-:; "^ •:. ;-l-^" '• "V'-' •':::•:, ; • *:S ' ';• ^ i 'I :*:^:' v t':- ; ?:"' ;H!*!!!£?' '%%£?* i. :.'*': ^'<^W-^ '•• °" x :':":; fl^^l -:ilH:l;:i CATEGORY - - STATUS " ACCESS| BLE OWNERSHIP •z (Check One) TO'THE PUBLIC Q District Q Building [X Public P ublic Acquisition: Q Occupied Yes: o ,. 1 . ' | | Restricted Ell Site QC Structure D Private' "" O ' n Process D Unoccupied TJ. i— i i-i ' 1 "." ri 'Unrestricted D Object D B»tn [ 1 Being Considered "~ LJ Preservation work H in progress LI! "°' U PRESENT USE. (Check One or More as Appropriate) . . i~l Agricultural • . Q Government Q Pork : .. . -0 [] Transportation QXComments • —— ' —— —— r*r *™ " ' ' J""~"« OS Q Commercial' ... .CD Industrial , . . Q P-ffCote-lfesid'enJti 1 Other (Sp*r.ltr) - Still beittf ji Q Educational -. CD Military _ . . -J£j!te*\WQuf ^^ §rX c used for >/^\ */> Q Entertainment. . D. Museum . /NC^Scientific • , -traffic •*-^^-^'-^iv/Ck-i7 •- yV^ z 5:|i;i^WN'E^;0^iP'R6>|:f?T^ : ".*•" • :;,:•,•:•••;.•.•. • .,•.••.•/>»/ - *>"}&£S8m ^i^x:::;'-^:'-;;^^?•mzmwm* ir^lHI f lii;:l,;ii? • 1 OWNER'S NAME! / — •/ ID Z H Hunterdon County ••[-."! w't^7T -^Vfl*-^ » 7 ?:• • ® 5 $! m STREET AND NUMBER: - *•• '* y^y)18 *• 1- • CH tu Administration Building H^°!}?a — ^l a» CITY OR TOWN: •«BBlS»-t* STA/"EJ"y CODF H \ tfl Flemington ^Q^ev Jersey 34 0) S |$i|gQ^#f|$N^&R:^ a; «issig*fi«iii\x^ illlilllllt 1: I il-fiilll: COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OF- DEEDS, ETC:- • ,_ «•« ^ ji« COUNTY: Hail b£ Records „ Hunterdon STREET AND NUMBER: Main -Street- ...... CITY OR TOWN: ,. -, .... , • , STATE CODE Flemington ... . New Jersey 34 piliiiiillNn i*::?*?i:;':i:|-: TITLE OF SURVEY: • ..-,.. ENTR' New Jersey Historic Sites Ijjventr»ry ' Tl CI1345 11 " ' 0 NUMBERf DATE OF SURVEY: 197^ n Federal Qf State •" Q County . Q Local * 3) DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: •a2 < 3 (/t Historic Sites Section, Dept. of Environmental Prnt^ri-i™El . ... ' ri c ' STREET AND NUMBER: r^ m O Box 1420 r~Z CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE -< «• Trenton New Jersev 34^ Jt> DATE1 (Check One) Excellent D Good Foir ] Deteriorated [~1 Ruins CH Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (C/iecfc One; [X Altered Q Unaltered Moved QQ Original Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The Fink type truss bridge, known as Bridge #FO64, spanning the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Village of Hamden, New Jersey was constructed in 1857 by the Trenton Locomotive and Machine Manufacturing Company. It has a span of 99.9 feet carrying a one lane 15.05 foot wide roadway. This truss bridge combines different systems of triangular bracings so that the imposed weight on any particular section is distributed evenly throughout the bridge since the foot of the post of each triangle is capable of settling vertically or moving to the side so that the tension rods of each system of triangular bracings will be strained unifromly. The bridge of Hamden is an excellent, almost perfect, example of the Fink-truss bridge as shown in Plate II of Fink's patent dated May 9, 1854. The entire bridge frame forms a rectangular box measuring approximately 100 feet long, by 15 feet wide, by 19 feet high. The vertical braces, or tie rods, are spaced at approximately 12 foot intervals and, except for the end tie rods, are hexagonal-shaped cast iron. The end vertical braces are also cast-iron, but of more substantial strength. Suspension rods are attached at the top of the end braces and secured into the bases of each tie rod up to the center of the bridge. In addition, each of the vertical tie rods has intersecting suspension rods visually creating a spider's web impression. The stretchers on the top of the bridge crossing the river are also hexagonal-shaped cast iron. Those connecting rods from one truss to the other at the top are perforated small narrow I-beams. There is a wooden railing along the inside of the bridge about two feet above the road bed to prevent structural damage from vehicles to the iron members. The modern roadbed, laid over corregated steel plating, is reinforced by twin I-beams which are further strengthened by seven traversing I-beams underneath the entire structure. The abutments are stone, and possibly original. Although the roadbed and the sub-structure is of modern construction the super-structure conforms favorably to the original configuration. I PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) O Pre-Columbian! d 16th Century D 18th Century 20th Century n 15th Century D 17th Century [JC] 19th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (II Applicable and Known) 1857 AREAS o^ SIGNIFICANCE' (Check On? or, More as Appropriate) - • f Abor iginal Q Education n Politicat " r Urban Planning! ,, fH Prehistoric QX Engineering - Q] Religion/Phi: <, Other fSpeci/y; O Historic ( | Industry losophy Q Agriculture f~l > Invention; (~| Science • • | | Architecture | | Landscape I | Sculpture D Art Architecture | | Social/Human | | Commerce | | Literature itarian [ | Communications n Military Q Theater | | Conservation Q Music | | Transportation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Engineering and Transportation As the United States increased its industrial power in I/) the 19th Century transportation through the nation developed correspondingly. And as the means and methods of travel became more and more sophisticated increased demands for improved highways encouraged engineers to develop improved roadbeds, canals, railways, and bridges. u Increasingly heavy modes of travel, especially in the ID railways, forced engineers to consider increased weight a: capacity of bridges which the locomotives eventually had to cross. One of these engineers, Albert Fink, had several patents for truss bridges which had added strength. LU Fink's earliest patent, dated May 9, 1854 (#10,887), shows an iron truss bridge nearly identical to the bridge crossing the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Village of Hamden. This bridge is perhaps the only surviving Fink-type truss bridge and one of the earliest iron truss bridges in the United States. It was constructed by the Trenton Locomotive and Machine Manufacturing Company of Trenton, New Jersey in 1857. Trenton Locomotive was one of New Jersey's foremost iron manufacturers of the 19th Century. Albert Fink - Short Biography Albert Fink (1827-1897), railroad engineer and operator, is generally regarded as the father of |9th century railway economics and statistics in the United States. Employed by several railroad companies in the south Fink was, at various times; in charge of design of bridges Historic^American Engineering RerrvrH_ ——— - T™^+™.. . „ .... V.W.L jr Awxiu^ v-ump.._ ±e, tea. . American Railroad Bridges.' Tneo'dore Cooper. New York: 1889 (?) , (p. 20 and plates XIV § XIX j * American Building Art: 19th Cen tury. Carl Condit. New York: 1960, (pp. 118-124). Atlas of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. F.W. Beers. New York: 1873. Dictionary of American Biography. Alien Johnson and Dumas LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUPE AND LONGIT'JDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY t 1 DEFINING THii CtiNiTZR POIN 1 OF A PROPERTY t OF LESS THAN TFN ACRES t ' - CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW ° ° NE ° ° :UO° 36 ' .lU " 7U° 5U ' 10 " SE ° ° C\u Q • • O • m APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: Mot" Ann! T f*nHl f* (LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATUE OR COUNI^'pdUBI tfSfJI E^"*^ -"^*f \ \ 1 1 J / f _,\^_ m STATE: CODE COUNTY /\.\^*^ ^"^O^-TS. CODE /y? ^x^ m STATE: CODE COUNTY: L^J/ CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE Trenton New Jersey 34 is* «MP^:;illB^ As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na I hereby certify that this property is included in the tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law National Register. 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. The recommended Director, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation level of significance of this nomination is: ^JaUonal Qc AState [£\ Local Q Nan/>^——— J? \ \ J \/T^~~^\-^^ David J. ^ardin ATTEST; Title Commissioiier Dept of Environmental Protection Date November 20, 19 7k Date •ft U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1973-729-147/1442 3-I Form 10-300o (July 1969) New Jersey NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY Hunterdon INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) DEC (Number all entries) 8. Significance (Cont'd) and stations for the section of railroad form Grafton to Moundsville, Virginia (now West Virginia), Section Engineer and Division Engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Chief Engineer, General Superintendent, and, finally, Vice-President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Fink also had numerous innovative designs for railroad/bridges which he subsequently patented. RECEIVED NOV2X974 \ NATIONAL' REGISTER GP 0 921-7 24 Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE New Jersey COUNTY NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Hunterdon INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) (Number all entries) 9. Major Bibliographical References (Cont'd) Malone, editors. New York: 1931 (Volume 6, pp. 387-88) United States Patents * ————May 9, 1854 (f10,887) , April 9, 1867 (#63,714), March 3, 1857 (#16,728), July 4, 1871 (#116,787). GPO 921-724 19 Ml. TO U.S. 46 ANNANDALE (JUNC. INTERSTATE 78) I Ml\ PITTSTOWN QUADRANGLE) NEW JERSEY—HUNTERDON CO. 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC 74°g2'30" 508 5Q9 1940 000 FEET \ 40°37'30 Bridge FC-6U-Hamden Fink-Type Truss Bridge Clinton and Franklin To ___ -ships Hunterdon County, 019 New Jersey, 3U Latitude: UO-36-1U Longitude: 7U-5U-10 , photorevised 1970