Rector Road Bridge at Clear Creek - Denton, TX
N 33° 08.197 W 097° 06.139
14S E 677013 N 3668035
Rector Road Bridge at Clear Creek is today "Rector Road Bridge at Guyer High School," as it was replaced by a newer bridge in 2005 and then relocated to the grounds of Guyer High School, 7501 Teasley Lane, Denton, TX.
Waymark Code: WMM13A
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/30/2014
Views: 5
A Denton County Historic Landmark sign stands near the west approach to the bridge, and gives a capsule overview:
This iron bridge, named to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2004, was built in 1907-08 by the Austin Bros. Bridge Co. of Dallas. It was located 2.5 miles SE of Sanger on Rector Road at Clear Creek. Citizens of the Sanger area donated $1,200 on the cost of $1,664. The Pratt through-truss bridge span is 80 feet. It was relocated to this site in April 2005.
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The bridge originally crossed Clear Creek on Rector Road, north of here in Sanger, TX. (
visit link) The Denton County Historical Commission is extremely proud of the county's surviving bridges, and there are ongoing efforts to preserve those which are no longer of use for growing vehicular traffic. The Rector Road Bridge was referenced in an article linked below in Secondary Website 2 (slightly edited):
A few of the adopted bridges removed from county roads are awaiting placement at new parks and other facilities that are soon to be developed, but ten bridges are now easily accessible to the public.
One of those is the 80-foot-long Pratt through-truss style Rector Road Bridge, which was built in 1907-1908 to carry travelers over Clear Creek outside Sanger. The Denton County School District adopted the structure, which now bears the foot traffic of Guyer High School students and teachers crossing an environmentally sensitive area between the school’s main campus and its athletic facilities.
Horn was impressed when she learned of the repurposed historic bridge’s expanded significance in its new home. “I was at the dedication of the historical marker for the bridge and the principal said ‘we just got the prototype of our new yearbook. On the front cover is a picture of the bridge and that’s what their yearbook is called – The Bridge.’ (Symbolizing) the bridge between your high school years and the rest of our life,” Horn recalled [Mary Horn is a Denton County judge.]
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As this bridge is located on school grounds, remember that we live in interesting times, and it may be a good idea to visit outside of school hours or when functions are not taking place on the athletic grounds. Check with the school before visiting if the kids are going to be around.