Western Railroad Stone Arch Bridges and Chester Factory Village Depot National Historic Landmark Nomination
Daly J, Kline LJ, Heitert K. 2021. Western Railroad Stone Arch Bridges and Chester Factory Village Depot National Historic Landmark Nomination. National Historic Landmark Nominations. 100006273_NHL. National Park Service. Washington, DC
This document is the National Historic Landmark nomination for the Western Railroad Stone Arch Bridges and Chester Factory Village Depot in Becket in Berkshire County, Middlefield in Hampshire County, and Chester in Hampden County, Massachusetts. The NHL nomination for the Western Railroad Stone Arch Bridges and Chester Factory Village Depot historic district documents its national significance under NHL Criteria 1, 2, and 4. The resources within the discontiguous district are significant under Criterion 1 for association with the Western Railroad, which was one of the first inter-regional railroads; the company's management structure was also innovative. The railroad and bridges are significant under Criterion 2 as the best representative works of George Washington Whistler (1800–1849), one of the country’s leading practitioners of civil engineering in the early nineteenth century and a pioneering designer of railroads. The railroad is significant under Criterion 4 as an intact segment of the first railroad in the United States to demonstrate the feasibility of moving trains across a mountain range using only traction for propulsion and braking. The period of national significance is 1841 to 1867.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Daly, John; Kline, Laura; Heitert, Kristen
- Date of Issue
- 2021-01-13
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- Becket, bridges, Chester, engineering, George Washington Whistler, Massachusetts, Middlefield, National Historic Landmark, railroad