Lower Rollstone Street Bridge, Spanning Nashua River on Rollstone Street, Fitchburg, Worcester County, MA

Significance: The (Lower) Rollstone Street Bridge is one of only five known surviving Parker patent trusses in the United States, and the oldest of the three located in Massachusetts. It is also one of the two oldest known metal truss bridges in the state. The design is based on Charles Parker's 1870 patent for a truss bridge that was capable of being altered in length without changing the general proportion of the truss in other respects. The bridge incorporates most of the features claimed in Parker's patent, and is a very early example of this significant bridge type, which was one of the first to allow mass-production of interchangeable parts, and illustrates the spread of iron bridge technology from railroads to highways. The bridge fabricator, National Bridge & Iron Works, was a significant New England bridge-building company in the late-nineteenth century.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-21
Survey number: HAER MA-102
Building/structure dates: 1870 Initial Construction