BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a timber truss bridge spanning a river on stone piers, side elevation. Not a photograph of this place.

Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad Bridge

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“About 1810 the township was surveyed into one hundred lots, numbered from the northwest, but no speedy attempt at settlement followed. In 1813 Elijah Nobles settled on Tinker's ereek near the line of Independence, and was probably the first pioneer of Bedford.”

History of Cuyahoga County Ohio (1870). Machine-read text.

one of 338 National Register listings in Cuyahoga County · listed in 1975 · category: Structure · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Cuyahoga County.

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Tinker's Creek, Bedford, 44146
  • When was it listed? 1975-07-24
  • Category. structure
  • Township. Bedford city
  • National Register reference number. 75001351 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Bedford city, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870 - Bedford City

Physicians And The Press

Dr. J. M. Turner, who came about 1828 and lived a little south of the village, was the first physician and was in practice about five years. Dr. Charles Goodrich came about 1830, but fell a victim to the cholera in 1832; Dr. J. P. Robinson was in practice from January, 1882, till his removal to Cleveland in 1865.

Read the rest of this passage

The ground it stands on

7,074 words

The chapter on Bedford City in History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870 names Bedford. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Tuts township lies on the Summit county line, east of Independence and south of Warrensville. On the east it is bonnded by the township of Solon. It is known in the survey as township number six in range eleven. When it was organized for civil purposes, in 1828, it received its present name at the suggestion of Daniel Benedict, in compliment to the place of his nativity - Bedford, Connecticut.

Passage source: History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870.

Along the streams the surface of the township is sumewhat broken, but in other parts it is generally level. Being also quite elevated, Bedford is a very healthy township. Heavy forests originally covered the ground, but these have been generally removed, although the appearance of the country is yet pleasantly diversified by bodies of timber which have been allowed to remain in their primitive beauty. The soil is variable, but is usually a light loam. It is generally free from stones, and may be cultivated with ease. It is fertile, and yields the ordinary products of this part of the State, but dairying has, to a large extent, become the chief industrial pursuit of the inhabitants.

Passage source: History of Cuyahoga County Ohio, published 1870.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Bedford City - 7,074 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

2 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad Bridge between 1993 and 2000, burning about 7 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
21 September 1993Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCuyahoga Valley National ParkVANACHEK
28 March 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.3 acresCuyahoga Valley National ParkSTONE

Every fire recorded in Cuyahoga County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,998 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,998 specimens collected within 10 miles of Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad Bridge between 1876 and 1975: 1,912 Animalia, 49 Plantae, 33 Fungi, 3 Protozoa, 1 incertae sedis. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. D. Selby, A. Hall and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Osmunda claytoniana L.Osmunda claytoniana L.1894Winkler, H.J.Cleveland.
Specimen of Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.1897Winkler, H.J.Woods, Cleveland.
Specimen of Claytonia virginica L.Claytonia virginica L.1897Watson,J.R. s.n. [1897-04][label: North Ohio Flora. J.R. Watson, Berea, O.] Cuyahoga Co.
A photograph of the species Dendroica caerulescens, not of this specimenDendroica caerulescens caerulescens (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)1876A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Dendroica castanea, not of this specimenDendroica castanea (A.Wilson, 1810)1876A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Dendroica fusca, not of this specimenDendroica fusca (Statius Müller, 1776)1876A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Dendroica striata, not of this specimenDendroica striata (J.R.Forster, 1772)1876A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Seiurus aurocapilla, not of this specimenSeiurus aurocapilla aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766)1876A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Baeolophus bicolor, not of this specimenBaeolophus bicolor bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766)1877A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Bombycilla cedrorum, not of this specimenBombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 18081877A. Hallunspecified
A photograph of the species Betula L., not of this specimenBetula L.1888JasliafroCleveland; Lake View
A photograph of the species Cryptotaenia canadensis, not of this specimenCryptotaenia canadensis (L.) DC.1890R. H. IngrahamMiles

All 1,998 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Cleveland And Pittsburgh Railroad Bridge: 4 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Zirconium, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hydraulic Shale PitClayProducer
Rockside QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Zircoa Refractories/ Solon, OhioZirconiumUnknown
Leone Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Leone Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Terra Visa Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Terra Visa Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cuyahoga County

Storms near this property

12 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bedford, the town this property stands in, in 12 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 5 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2026HailBedford$1,000,000Multiple reports of hail up to golf ball-size to slightly larger than hen egg-size in Bedford. For example, received a picture of a 2.25 diameter hailstone, measured with a ruler, in Bedford. Also, wind-driven severe hail damaged some of the siding and a window of a house in the town. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bedford's mayor estimated the severe hailstorm caused $1 million in damage to city hall and the surrounding city government complex alone.
November 2002Thunderstorm WindBedford$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and several large limbs.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBedford$10,000Several trees and power lines down reported from thunderstorm winds.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindBedford$5,000Large trees downed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBedford$3,000Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
April 2026HailBedford-Hail up to hen egg-size about one-mile NNE of Bedford.
August 2023Flash FloodBedford-Multiple road closures in and around Solon due to flash flooding. Road closures include US-422 at Brainard Road and Bainbridge Road near Harper Road. Radar estimated 1.75 to 2.25 inches of rainfall in a three hour period, with most of the rain falling in a 60 to 90 minute period.
July 2023HailBedford-Hail up to half dollar-size in Bedford.
March 2020Flash FloodBedford-At the USGS Tinkers Creek gage at Bedford, Ohio (No. 04207200), on March 29th the Creek crested at 530 am with a stage of 8.44 feet and a flow of 4690 cfs as a 10-year flood, which put it just below the flood of February 28, 2011. Backwater from the Cuyahoga River exasperated flooding near the confluence near Valley View.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBedford-Numerous trees down in Bedford. One tree down in Oakwood.
June 2007HailBedford-Nickel size hail was observed.
July 1999HailBedford-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cuyahoga County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,589 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Description of the property

JUN 1 7 1975 REGISTER which covers one arch and the lower portions of the piers of the viaduct.Thus the bridge is still entirely there but partially PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) - Pre-Columbian! 1 16th Century SPECIFIC DATE(s) (If Applicable and Known) 1864; 1901 - Political - Prehistoric - Other (Specify) - Science - Sculpture - Social/Human- - Theater X Transportation STATEMENT OF

Statement of significance

and mason was Al Spafford, who is said to have used a derrick became a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. JUN 1 7 1975 Commerce Communications Conservation ition. Architecture losophy Military Landscape Aboriginal Engineering NATIONAL REGISTER Religion/Phi Literature Industry SIGNIFICANCE Agriculture Invention itarian Urban Planning Music The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad came to Bedford skill of mid-nineteenth century American builders. An event of interest in local history was the passage of for the great arches. He was also a violin-maker.

This is a viaduct of truly Roman proportions.Even part- Philadelphia to Chicago for exhibition at the Columbian Expos- It was replaced by the stone viaduct in 1864.The contractor The right-of-way was changed in 190l in order to accom- modate a double-track line.The Cleveland and Pittsburgh later in 1852 and revolutionized east-west travel for the community. Education the train on April 27,1893,carrying the Liberty Bell from AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) ially obscured, it is a magnificent testimony to the engineering Art The first bridge over Tinker's Creek was a wooden trestle.

The whole case file for this property - 1,589 words, 11 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 75001351, 11 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Gates, Holsey, House0.4 miles1975
Bedford Township Hall0.4 miles1975
Dunham, Hezekiah, House0.4 miles1975
Drake, Alonzo, House2.0 miles1978
Frazee, Stephen, House3.7 miles1976
Wilson Feed Mill3.8 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 75001351 in Record Group 79.
Cuyahoga CountyAll 338 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.