The Guilford Quarry Pratt Through Truss Bridge at
Guilford, Maryland is a single-span, metal truss, railroad bridge
History
The bridge was constructed in 1902 to extend a spur of the B&O railroad beyond
Savage, Maryland upstream toward a quarry at Guilford Maryland. The town of Guilford at its peak comprised a mill, quarry, and a small village of stone structures.
Guilford was noted for high quality Granite for building structures. The "old Gault" Guilford quarries first started mining
Guilford Quartz Monzonite
The Guilford Quartz Monzonite is a Silurian or Ordovician quartz monzonite pluton in Howard County, Maryland. It is described as a biotite-muscovite-quartz monzonite which occurs as discontinuous lenticular bodies which intrude mainly throug ...
in 1834. They were managed by the Guilford and Waltersville Granite Company in 1887 and later in 1889 by Matthew Gault & Son prior to the bridge installation on the Little Pautuxent river.
[Maryland Geological Survey Volume 2]
1898, The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore. The river was unnavigable by boat cargo, but the location along the east coast fall-line provided watermill power for mill operations and expansion of industrial applications. These included the 1744 Guilford mill expanded to 50 looms by 1881 as the (Gary Cotton Mill) under the proprietorship of James S. Gary until it burned in 1890. In 1901, the Maryland Granite Company was incorporated, purchasing 200 acres of land including the Gault quarry, Lohman and Earp Farms, and Gary Mill property. A standard-gauge railroad extension from the
Savage Mill spur of the B&O railroad was started on an escarpment along the river. In addition to the bridge, a steam plant, electric plant, telephone & telegraph lines, air compressor for steel-shot cutting, 20-ton overhead crane and additional houses for employees were planned under the supervision of James J. Miller. The anticipation was to have 200 stonecutters in operation filling three railcars of rough stone daily enabled by the bridge.
The majority of the towns historic structures have since been demolished or displaced by development of the
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages.
Columbia began with ...
project village of
Kings Contrivance, leaving only the bridge and quarry remnants for preservation.
On June 2, 2021, the Guilford Quarry Pratt Through Truss Bridge was registered on the National Register of Historic Places.
Description
The Guilford Quarry Pratt Through Truss Bridge crosses the
Little Patuxent River in Howard County Maryland.
See also
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List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
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List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland
This is a List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland. There are currently 76 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Maryland. Also included are short lists of former NHLs and of other historic sites of national importance administered by the ...
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Howard County, Maryland
References
External links
National Historic Landmark information
{{NRHP bridges
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges
Bridges in Howard County, Maryland
Railroad bridges in Maryland
Truss bridges in the United States
Bridges completed in 1902
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Railroad-related National Historic Landmarks
National Historic Landmarks in Maryland
Historic American Engineering Record in Maryland
National Register of Historic Places in Howard County, Maryland
Suspension bridges in Maryland