Backwards Tunnel, also known as the ''Ogdensburg Railroad Arch'', is located in
Ogdensburg,
Sussex County,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, United States. The tunnel was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on December 28, 2005.
History
The tunnel was built in 1871 by the
New Jersey Midland Railway
The New Jersey Midland Railway was a 19th-century predecessor to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that operated in Northern New Jersey and Orange County, New York.
Formation and construction
The New Jersey Midland Railway c ...
in order to cross the Wallkill Valley.
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway took over control of the tunnel in 1881 when the ''Midland Railway Line'' was merged into it. The tunnel was first referenced as the ''Backwards Tunnel'' in 1976 because it was thought that the tunnel should have been wider over the road than over the river. Ogdensburg declared the tunnel a borough historic site in 1991. A flood in 2000 which caused two nearby dams to burst damaged the tunnel. A book was published in 2009 about the history of the tunnel.
Design
The tunnel is a double stone arch design and is a 180 feet long. The one arch which Cork Hill Road runs through measures 16 feet wide and 15 feet tall. The other arch which the Wallkill River flows through measures 20 wide and 16 feet tall.
The rail line ran on top of the tunnel.
See also
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Sterling Hill Mining Museum
The Sterling Hill Mine, now known as the Sterling Hill Mine Tour & Museum of Fluorescence, is a former iron and zinc mine in Ogdensburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It was the last working underground mine in New Jersey when it c ...
, located nearby the tunnel and also on the National Register of Historic Places.
External links
Wallkill River Watershed.
References
{{NRHP in Sussex County, New Jersey
Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey
Tunnels completed in 1871
Transportation buildings and structures in Sussex County, New Jersey
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
Road tunnels in New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Sussex County, New Jersey
Ogdensburg, New Jersey
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Road tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places
Water tunnels on the National Register of Historic Places