Napa County, California Bridges: First Street Bridge across Napa Creek

November 2013 (38.29972 Degrees, -122.28444 Degrees) First Street Bridge

The First Street Bridge (21C0127) is the last bridge across Napa Creek before it empties in the Napa River. Many of the bridges and buildings in this part of Napa were recently replaced including this bridge in 2005. The old bridge was a two span stone masonry arch (see Library of Congress photo below).

Significance: The First Street Bridge across Napa Creek qualified for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a distinguished example of its type and period (a bridge from California's pioneering era of bridge construction), and method of construction (stone masonry arch). The First Street Bridge over Napa Creek was the second oldest standing bridge in the city of Napa, and one of the five oldest standing highway structures in California.

Like the previously studied Main Street Bridge, the First Street Bridge was built in the 1860s but unlike the Main Street Bridge it was demolished in 2004.

The replacement bridge is a wide (64 ft) 3-span continuous prestressed concrete box girder bridge on double pier walls. The bridge is 345 ft long with 115 ft long spans. The bridge is extra long because it will go over the Napa River Bypass when it is built next year.

I guess the old bridge had to be replaced to make room for the flood control project (downtown Napa was badly flooded a few years ago). What I don't like about the replacement bridge is how they tried to make it look historical after tearing down a truly historic bridge. Information on efforts to save the old bridge can be found on the Stone Quarries and Beyond Website.

Napa County, California Bridges: First Street Bridge across Napa Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.