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Viaduct is a working work of art Wilmington's arches named to historic register |
By CARL WEISER Washington Bureau reporter 12/17/99 WASHINGTON - Delaware's latest addition to the National Register of Historic Places is covered with graffiti, weeds, rust and soot. And it's certainly on the wrong side of the tracks -- underneath them. The addition is the Wilmington Rail Viaduct, the 3-mile-long stone and steel elevated train platform that runs through the city. Last month it joined du Pont family estates, Dover's Old Statehouse and historic Lewes on the National Park Service's list of the nation's most significant historic sites. "I think it's quite attractive in terms of the workmanship, the arches. It's quite a work of art," said Daniel R. Griffith, director of the state's Historic Preservation Office. "It's really very beautiful," said Debra Campagnari Martin, who as Wilmington's preservation planner, compiled the report that led to the viaduct's listing Nov. 10. "It's an extremely defining feature for the city." To appreciate the significance of the viaduct, think of Wilmington without it. The Christina River -- its industry and now its redeveloping areas -- would be cut off from the rest of the city. The 74 daily Amtrak trains, plus all freight and commuter trains, would cross city streets at ground level, bringing traffic to a halt. Trains were booming when the Pennsylvania Railroad began building the viaduct in 1901. The Pennsylvania Railroad was buying up every railroad in the mid-Atlantic, building elegant train stations -- including Wilmington's 1908 station, which was added to the National Register in 1976 -- and straightening and raising its tracks. Elevating its tracks above city streets was a "systemwide crusade" for the company, because it cut down on accidents and increased train speed, a report on the viaduct's listing says. In Wilmington, faster trains propelled industrialization along the Christina riverfront. The viaduct became the dividing line between downtown and an industrial quarter that was "noisy and dirty and extremely busy and not so pleasant to look at" -- the same area the city is working to turn into an entertainment district today, Martin said. Pennsylvania Railroad could have built the viaduct out of steel, but William H. Brown, the railroad's chief engineer, built the bulk of the viaduct out of brick, earth and sandstone. It cost $9 million, about $150 million in today's dollars, which translates to about $35 million more than it cost to build the Del. 1 bridge over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The grand project was typical of railroad companies in those times, which wished to leave monuments glorifying themselves, the report said. And the viaduct endures, carrying every Amtrak train through Wilmington today. "The Wilmington viaduct has served its original purpose continuously since its completion in 1908, despite the waxing and waning popularity of rail transportation," Martin's report said. "The elements of its structure, from the graceful braces of the ... bridges to the rolling arch spans, are both aesthetically pleasing and highly utilitarian. The imposing structure of the viaduct is as important a landscape element to the city as are the two rivers, despite its man-made origins." Amtrak spokesman John Wolf said the railroad was unaware of the listing and had no comment. The railroad had been notified of the designation and didn't object, Martin said. Martin said she hoped the listing on the National Register might spur Amtrak to spruce up the viaduct, which is covered with graffiti and surrounded in parts by barbed wire-topped fences. Martin and Griffith acknowledge Delawareans may find the viaduct an odd object of admiration. "You can only appreciate it from a bird's-eye view or far away, seeing it thread through Delaware," Griffith said. The arches are in a marshy area under Interstate 95. They are 41 feet long and 8 feet tall and seem huge, Martin said, "bigger than my first apartment. The listing of the viaduct symbolizes a change in how history is viewed. Historic places used to be the homes of great men, or the site of important government action. Now historic sites include gas stations, factories -- and rail viaducts. "History," Martin said, "is also about ordinary people and how they changed history." The viaduct is Delaware's 652nd site on the National Register, but some of those sites, such as historic districts in New Castle, Laurel and Felton, contain dozens of properties. Other rail viaducts, including one in Baltimore, already are listed on the National Register, said Edson Beall, a historian with the register. Reach Carl Weiser at (703) 276-5829 or cweiser@gns.gannett.com |