List of lost covered bridges in Parke County, Indiana

Last updated May 23, 2024

The "lost" covered bridges of Parke County covers the covered bridges of Parke County, Indiana, United States, that have been destroyed, either through floods, arson, or demolition.

Parke County is the self-proclaimed "Covered Bridge Capital of the World".^[1] It claims to have more covered bridges than any other county in the United States. At one time as many as 52 1/2 covered bridges existed in Parke County. The half bridge comes from a shared bridge with Vermillion County that crossed the Wabash River. Today 31 of those bridges survive, 10 of which have been closed to vehicle traffic.^[1] Because of the numerous streams and creeks meandering through the county and the ready natural resources to build the bridges, Parke County has many covered bridges.

Construction

Almost all of the bridges exteriors were built of poplar wood, with interiors, trusses, arches and planking built of oak. The majority of the bridges were built using a Burr Arch or a double Burr Arch design.

Parke County had two bridge builders who built most of the bridges in the county. The first of these was J.J. Daniels. Born in 1826, in Marietta, Ohio, he built railroad bridges in Ohio and Indiana and 60 covered bridges in Indiana. Of these 60 bridges, 27 alone were in Parke County, with 11 of those still standing. The second was J.A. Britton. He was born just three miles east of Rockville, in 1838. Britton would built 17 covered bridges in Parke County, with 12 of those still standing.^[2]

Bridgeton bridge arson

The Bridgeton bridge was burned by an arsonist in 2004, but the community rallied to raise funds for local craftsmen to build a new bridge in 2006, based on the original blueprints.^[3]

List of bridges

Name	Year built	Year destroyed	Design and length^[A]	Body of water crossed	Cause of destruction
Adams Covered Bridge	1907	1969	Burr Truss, 170 feet (52 m) long	Little Raccoon Creek	Flood
Armiesburg Covered Bridge	1854	1913	Long Truss, unknown feet long	Big Raccoon Creek	Flood
Bridgeton Covered Bridge	1868	2005	Burr Truss, 267 feet (81 m) long	Big Raccoon Creek	Arson, April 28, 2005
Clinton Covered Bridge	1853	1899	Long Truss, 790 feet (240 m) long	Wabash River	Dismantled using high voltage wires to cut through the trusses.
Coal Creek Covered Bridge	1869	1992	Burr Truss, 194 feet (59 m) long	Coal Creek	Arson, June 28, 1992
Dooley Station Covered Bridge	1917	1960	Burr Truss, 95 feet (29 m) long	Little Raccoon Creek	Arson, December 4, 1960
Grange Corner Covered Bridge	1899	1968	Burr Truss, 113 feet (34 m) long	Sugar Mill Creek	Flood
Greencastle Road Covered Bridge	1863 (before)	1863	Unknown, unknown feet long	Little Raccoon Creek	Dismantled
Harbison Covered Bridge	1916	1943	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Big Raccoon Creek	Fire
Hargrave Covered Bridge	1847	1913	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Big Raccoon Creek	Flood
Harrison Covered Bridge	1866	1876	Burr Truss, 250 feet (76 m) long	Sugar Creek	Dismantled
Hollandsburg Covered Bridge	1866	1930	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Big Raccoon Creek	Dismantled
Howard Covered Bridge	1913	1931 or 1932	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Sugar Creek	Dismantled
Jeffries Ford Covered Bridge	1915	2002	Burr Truss, 222 feet (68 m) long	Big Raccoon Creek	Arson, April 2, 2002
Jessup Covered Bridge	1910	1989	Burr Truss, 175 feet (53 m) long	Little Raccoon Creek	Flood
JH Russell Covered Bridge	1897	1983	Queen Truss, 50 feet (15 m) long	Sugar Creek, Square Rock Branch	Dismantled
Lusk Covered Bridge #1	1840	1847	Lattice Truss (unconfirmed), unknown feet long	Sugar Creek	Flood, January 1, 1847
Lusk Covered Bridge #2	1847	1875	Lattice Truss (unconfirmed), unknown feet long	Sugar Creek	Unknown
Moore Covered Bridge	1909	1957	Burr Truss, 81 feet (25 m) long	Little Raccoon Creek, South Fork	Flood
Plank Road Covered Bridge	1854 or 1859	1913	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Little Raccoon Creek	Flood
Red Covered Bridge	1880	1976	Burr Truss, 276 feet (84 m) long	Big Raccoon Creek	Arson, October 13, 1976
Roaring Creek Covered Bridge	1863 (unconfirmed)	1923 and 1925	Unknown, unknown feet long	Roaring Creek	Dismantled
Roseville Covered Bridge	1866	1910	Burr Truss, 250 feet (76 m) long	Big Raccoon Creek	Arson, April 10, 1910
Star Mill Covered Bridge	1861	1866	Burr Truss, 250 feet (76 m) long	Sugar Creek	Flood
Turkey Run Covered Bridge	1865, 1866, or 1884	1914	Queen Truss, 50 feet (15 m) long	Turkey Run	Dismantled
Union Township Covered Bridge	1851	1872	Burr Truss, unknown feet long	Big Raccoon Creek	Dismantled
Weisner Covered Bridge	1908	1957	King Post, 63 feet (19 m) long	Weisner Creek	Flood

Notes

^A Sorting this column will result in bridges being listed in order by length.

Related Research Articles

Bridgeton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Raccoon Township, Parke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is notable for its covered bridge, which was destroyed on April 28, 2005, by a fire set by an arsonist. A historically accurate reconstruction of the bridge was completed in October, 2006.

The Burr Arch Truss—or, simply, Burr Truss or Burr Arch—is a combination of an arch and a multiple kingpost truss design. It was invented in 1804 by Theodore Burr, patented on April 3, 1817, and used in bridges, usually covered bridges.

Conley's Ford Covered Bridge was built in 1906 and crosses Big Raccoon Creek on County Road 550 East close to County Road 720 South, in Parke County, IN. The bridge is a single span Burr Arch Truss structure. The Conley's Ford Covered Bridge was built by J. Lawrence Van Fossen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgeton Covered Bridge</span> Two bridges in Indiana, US

The first Bridgeton covered bridge was a double-span Burr Arch bridge built in 1868 by a crew led by J. J. Daniels. It was closed to traffic in 1967. It was built to replace two prior open wooden bridges that had fallen in. After its destruction by fire, it was replaced in 2006 by a reproduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevins Covered Bridge</span> Place in Indiana listed on National Register of Historic Places

The Nevins Covered Bridge is a single span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge that crosses Little Raccoon Creek on County Road 130 East, just southeast of Catlin, Indiana. It was built in 1920 by Joseph A. Britton and Son. Prior to the reconstruction of the Bridgeton Bridge in 2006, the Nevins Bridge was the newest covered bridge in Parke County.

The Billie Creek Covered Bridge is a Burr Arch structure that was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1895. J.L. Van Fossen supplied the sandstone that makes up the abutments cut from A.E. Fuel's nearby quarry.

The McAllister Covered Bridge is a Burr Arch structure that was built by Joseph A. Britton and Son in 1914. It is 144 feet (44 m) long, 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, and 14 feet (4.3 m) high. It is found in Adams Township, Parke County, Indiana, United States.

The covered bridges of Parke County are well-known tourist attractions in Parke County, Indiana, United States, which touts itself as the "Covered Bridge Capital of the World". The county claims to have more covered bridges than any other county in the United States. This is due to several reasons, mainly due to the numerous streams and creeks in the county, and having the natural resources and designers to build the bridges.

The Bowsher Ford Covered Bridge is a single span Burr Arch truss covered bridge structure that was built by J.A. Britton's son, Eugene Britton, in 1915.

The Cox Ford Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that crosses Sugar Creek along the western edge of Turkey Run State Park, in Parke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffries Ford Covered Bridge</span> Bridge in Raccoon, Indiana

The Jeffries Ford Covered Bridge was southwest of Bridgeton, Indiana, United States. The double-span Burr Arch covered bridge structure was built by J. A. Britton in 1915 and destroyed by arson on April 2, 2002.

The Leatherwood Station Covered Bridge is a single span double Burr Arch Truss covered bridge structure that was built by Joseph A. Britton & Son in 1899. Originally it had sandstone abutments but when it was moved to Billie Creek Village they were replaced with concrete abutments with sandstone showing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melcher Covered Bridge</span> Place in Indiana listed on National Register of Historic Places

The Melcher Covered Bridge, also known as the "Klondyke Covered Bridge", "Marion Covered Bridge", or the "Leatherwood Covered Bridge" crosses Leatherwood Creek east of Montezuma, Indiana, and is a single-span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge structure that was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1896.

The Narrows Covered Bridge crosses Sugar Creek at the eastern edge of Turkey Run State Park and is a single span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge structure that was built by Joseph A. Britton in 1882.

The Phillips Covered Bridge is southeast of Montezuma, Indiana in Parke County, Indiana and crosses Rocky Run, also known as Big Pond Creek. Unlike the rest of the bridges of Parke County, it is a single span King Post bridge structure, having no arches, that was built by Joseph A. Britton in 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roseville-Coxville Covered Bridge</span> Bridge southeast of Mecca, Indiana

The Roseville Covered Bridge, also known as the Coxville covered bridge, is southeast of Mecca, Indiana. The double span Burr Arch covered bridge structure was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1910. This is the third bridge at this location.

The Zacke Cox Covered Bridge is east of Mecca, Indiana. The single span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge structure was built by Joseph A. Britton in 1908.

Joseph Albert Britton (1839–1929), most commonly known as J.A. Britton, was a builder of bridges in Indiana. He created many works that survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The Armiesburg Covered Bridge was on the south side of Armiesburg, Indiana. The Long Truss with arch covered bridge structure was built by Henry Wolf in 1907 and destroyed by the Great Flood of 1913.

The Moore Covered Bridge was northeast of Judson, Indiana. The single-span Burr Arch covered bridge structure was built by the Joseph A. Britton in 1909 and destroyed by flood in 1957.

References

Bibliography

"Parke County Past Bridges" . Retrieved 30 August 2018.
"Bridge Builders and Plans". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
McKee, Deb (15 April 2006). "Parke County residents begin reconstructing Bridgeton landmark". tribstar.com. Retrieved 30 August 2018.

External links

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[FOOTNOTEParke_County-1] 1 2 Parke County.

[FOOTNOTEBuilders-2] Builders.

[FOOTNOTEMcKee2006-3] McKee 2006.

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