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t the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), our task is to build
and maintain the transportation
system used by residents and visitors,
while making sure that our history, heritage, culture and
natural environment are preserved. Federal law
requires that historic sites and structures be avoided
when possible during the planning and construction
of transportation projects. Historic sites and structures
impacted by transportation projects must be compensated for, a process called mitigation. This is why it
is important for TxDOT to be involved in historic
preservation.
The Roots of Historic
Preservation
In the 1960s, an appreciation of the need to preserve
representative aspects of our nation’s history swept
across the nation. Concern over preserving our built
environment culminated when the United States
Congress approved the National Historic Preservation
Act in 1966. The preamble of this act explains its
purpose and reads in part “To establish a program for
the preservation of additional historic properties
throughout the Nation...” This Act was further strengthened in 1971 by an executive order issued by President Nixon. The first sentence of this order summed
up its intent, and read “The Federal Government shall
provide leadership in preserving, restoring and
maintaining the historic and cultural environment of
the Nation.”
In 1970, the Texas Highway Department (TxDOT’s
forerunner) established an archeology section in its
Highway Design Division. Historic preservation was
one of the many tasks assigned to this section. At the
time, the Interstate Defense Highway system was
under construction, and the highway department was
constructing many new highways. It made sense then,
as it does now, to investigate just what was in the right
of way. In 1987, a separate Historical Branch was
established under the department’s design division.
This branch is now part of the Cultural Resources
Management Section of the Environmental Affairs
Division.
Accomplishments
TxDOT staff have made a number of important
historical contributions concerning sites around the
state. Some of these include:
• Beaumont’s Liberty-Laurel overpass – The
overpass design
incorporated a
number of
features that
blends the
bridge with
historic structures in the area.
The report
produced by
the historical
survey from this project lead the city to delineate a
historic district.
• U.S. 283 bridge over the Clear Fork of the
Brazos in Shackelford County – an historic,
1929-constructed Parker through truss bridge was
preserved in
place when a
new parallel
bridge was
constructed. A
parking area and
a hike and bike
trail connecting
the bridge to
nearby Fort
Griffin State Historical Park make the
now pedestrian bridge accessible to
walkers, runners and bicyclists.
• Historic Cleburne Post Office –
An overpass project on U.S. 67 in
downtown Cleburne threatened the
1912 post office. This project was
redesigned to place the entrance and
exit ramps on either side of the
building.
• Historic Bridge Survey – An
international team of architects, historians and a photographer from the
Historic American Engineering Record,
sponsored by TxDOT, thoroughly
documented 41 historic Texas
bridges. These records, made
to preserve our country’s
engineering heritage, are now
available for study through the
state archives and the Library of
Congress.
Each survey is documented
by a brief historical narrative.
Detailed reports are produced
for projects impacting National
Register eligible or listed properties.
These reports are distributed to the
Texas Historical Commission, the
Historic American Building Survey (for
inclusion in the Library of Congress),
academic
institutions and
other interested
parties to add to
our knowledge
Transportation Enhancement Program
Authorized in 1990, TxDOT’s Design Division oversees the transportation enhancement program that provides federal transportation funding
for transportation enhancement activities. Among these activities are:
• acquisition of historic sites
• historic highway programs
• historic preservation
• rehabilitation and operation of historic transportation buildings,
structures or facilities (including historic railroad facilities and canals)
• archeological planning and research
• establishment of transportation museums
This program allows cities, counties and non-profit organizations the
opportunity and funding to enhance transportation projects in their
communities. Some recent projects include:
• Orient-Santa Fe Railroad Depot – This 1909-built, two-story, red
brick depot (on the cover) in San Angelo was preserved and restored
thanks to the transportation enhancement program. Restored to its 1929
appearance, the historic depot now serves as a bus terminal and
railroad museum.
• Faust Street Bridge – This 1887-built bridge spanning New
Braunfel’s Guadalupe River received a new lease on life due to a
transportation enhancement project. The renovated truss bridge now
serves as a pedestrian and bicycle corridor through the city, connecting
commercial and residential areas.
• Fredonia Street Rehabilitation – Originally constructed in the late
1890’s, Nacogdoches’ Fredonia Street’s original brick pavement was
cleaned and replaced. An appropriate road base capable of supporting today’s heavy vehicles was added to allow this late 19th century
road to
function
well
into the
21st
century.
Historic Bridge Marketing
Program
Obsolete truss bridges enjoy a new lease on life
through TxDOT’s Historic Bridge Marketing Program. This
program, administered by the Environmental Affairs
Division, matches serviceable metal truss bridges that
have outlived their use on Texas’ highway system with
potential owners who have a need for such a structure.
Bridges adopted to date have been used in parks,
pedestrian walkways, hike and bike trails, golf courses
and private roads.
A typical truss bridge offered through this program is
structurally sound, around 100 years old, weighs 10 to
15 tons, 50 to 150 feet long, 10 to 18 feet wide, and is
usually moved in one piece (no assembly required!).
This program allows bridges that would otherwise be
torn down an opportunity to provide many additional
years of service and maintain links with Texas’ transportation history.
One of many success stories generated from this
program occurred in Lavaca County. In 1993, a steel truss
bridge located in the outskirts of Shiner on Lavaca
County Road 300 over Rocky Creek was to be demolished to make way for a new
bridge. The 1920-built span
was saved from demolition
by the combined efforts of
the City of Shiner, city and
county historical societies,
the Texas Historical Commission, Spoetzel Brewery and
TxDOT. In 1995, the bridge
was removed from its
original location (above
right) and moved to a spot in
town over Boggy
Creek, near the
Spoetzel Brewery.
Renovated and
modified for use as
a pedestrian bridge
(bottom right), this
Lavaca County
landmark was
rededicated in December 1997.
What is Historic?
Historical surveys of buildings, structures, objects and
sites in the proposed right of
way of a transportation
project evaluate potential
candidates on the following
basis:
• Is the historic resource 50
years old or older?
• Is the historic resource
associated with a significant
historic person?
• Does the historic resource
represent an event that has
made a significant contribution to the broad pattern of
history?
• Is the historic resource
significant from an architectural or engineering standpoint?
• Is the historic resource a
potential source of historical
or archeological information?
Recycled paper
Soy-based ink
New Uses for New
Generations
Historic structures can be preserved
and reused for other than their intended purpose. Dodd’s Creek Bridge
now serves as a pedestrian walkway in
Salado. Brownwood’s Santa Fe Depot
(below) is now a cultural and civic
center.
Preserving Our
Heritage
Too much of our heritage is tied up in
the buildings, bridges and other
structures to treat them with anything
other than respect. At TxDOT, we take
historic preservation seriously.
TxDOT operates Texas’ transportation
system looking towards the needs of
the new millennium, while mindful of
the need to preserve the tangible links
to our past.
Texas
Department
of Transportation
Environmental Affairs Division / August 1999
Historic
Preservation
and
TxDOT