PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi03257::A Guide to the Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009)//EN" "vi03257.xml" A Guide to the Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009 Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009 1203518 Sam Walters Library of Virginia © 2011 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

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Machine-readable finding aid derived from MARC record, created by Sam Walters, 23 February 2011 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009 A Collection in the Library of Virginia 1203518 Sam Walters

Library of Virginia 2011 Library of Virginia staff Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009 1203518 State Records Center - Archives Annex, Library of Virginia .75 cu. ft. (1 box) English Danville (Va.) Circuit Court. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009. Local Government Records Collection, Danville (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia under accession number 44872.

The Worsham Street Bridge was recorded in January 2009 by the Louis Berger Group, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement among VDOT, the Norfolk District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia SHPO, the City of Danville, and the Danville Historical Society (as a concurring party) concerning the demolition of the bridge. Recordation was performed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation (Federal Register 48[190]:44730-44734; Federal Register 68[139]:43159-43162), and is consistent with Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) guidelines for historical reports.

Historical Information

In 1802, Thomas Worsham, a leading citizen of Danville, constructed a toll bridge over the Dan River. Known as the Worsham Street Bridge, it was rebuilt in 1928 by the Atlantic Bridge Company as a way to funnel traffic into Danville's tobacco warehouse district. In 2004, the bridge was closed to traffic and was demolished in 2009.

Danville, in Pittsylvania County, was named for the Dan River on which the city is located. Danville was established in 1793; it was incorporated as a town in 1830 and as a city in 1890.

Scope and Content

Danville (Va.) Worsham Street Bridge Records, 1927-2009, consist of blueprints, photographs, and a historical report that describe one of the largest open-spandrel reinforced concrete arch bridges designed by Indiana-based engineer Daniel B. Luten, the most prolific designer and builder of concrete bridges in America during the first three decades of the twentieth century. With 10 spans and a total length of 1,151 feet, the bridge represents the later part of the evolution of design for large-scale, multiple-span, open-spandrel reinforced concrete arch bridges that occured in the United States between circa 1910 and 1930. As reflected in its scale, economy, and the speed at which it was constructed, it stands as an important example of that bridge type and period.

Adjunct Descriptive Data Related Material

Additional Danville Road and Bridge Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia's web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

 Index Terms Corporate Names: Danville (Va.) Circuit Court. Subjects: Bridges -- Design and construction. Bridges -- Maintenance and repair. Bridges -- Virginia -- Danville. Causeways -- Virginia -- Danville. Geographical Names: Danville (Va.) -- History. Genre and Form Terms: Local government records -- Virginia -- Danville. Plats (maps) -- Virginia -- Danville. Reports -- Virginia -- Danville. Road and Bridge Records -- Virginia -- Danville. Added Entry - Personal Name: Luten, Daniel B. (1869-1945)