Pulaski County Bridge No.31 | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Nearest city | Medaryville, Indiana |
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Coordinates | 40°34′59″N86°41′0″W / 40.58306°N 86.68333°W |
Built | 1905 |
Architect | Winamac Bridge Co. |
Architectural style | Stearns Truss |
NRHP reference No. | 03000546 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | June 22, 2003 |
Removed from NRHP | October 1, 2014 |
Pulaski County Bridge No. 31 (also known as the Stearns Truss Bridge or the Blue Bridge) is a Stearns truss bridge originally built in 1905 in Pulaski County in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2006, it was disassembled at its location over Big Monon Ditch, near Medaryville in Pulaski County, and moved to the Wabash and Erie Canal park in Delphi in Carroll County, Indiana. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2003, thanks to the efforts of a local Boy Scout. It is believed to be the last surviving Stearns Truss Bridge in the United States.
The bridge was erected over the Big Monon Ditch in 1905 by the Winamac Bridge Company. It was designed by William E. Stearns, and is the only Stearns Truss Bridge known left in existence in the United States. [2] A unique feature of the bridge is that it was designed to be easily moved. Various connecting points were made to easily pivot into and out of place, and the caissons were made to be loaded and unloaded with ballast to anchor the structure in place. This allowed the bridge to carry a much greater load as a function of its weight.
It was placed on the National Register as part of an Eagle Scout project by Bradley Nielsen, who began the effort in 2002. The bridge and the road it served sat on farm property owned by his grandparents, and had been abandoned for some time. With the assistance of the Pulaski County Historical society, Nielsen researched the bridge's history and construction, and filled out the application to place the structure on the NRHP. In 2003 the bridge was placed on the Register as "Pulaski County Bridge No. 31".
The bridge was owned by the county, and in 2005 when the contracts were let to clean the Big Monon Ditch the bridge was in the way of the dredging equipment. The commissioners discussed demolishing the bridge, and it was decided that removal of the bridge was necessary.
A group of concerned historians involved with the Wabash and Erie Canal Park in Delphi came to the bridge's rescue. In December, 2005, the Pulaski County commissioners sold the bridge for $10 to the Delphi group. They moved the bridge to Delphi, and over the past several years—with assistance from various funding agencies—have rebuilt the structure. It was dedicated on November 11, 2007 as a featured element of the interpretive park, known as the "Blue Bridge". [2] It was subsequently removed from the National Register in 2014.
Delphi is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. Located twenty minutes northeast of Lafayette, it is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,893 at the 2010 census.
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The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was the longest canal ever built in North America.
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This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, Indiana.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Fulton County, Indiana.
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The Delphi Courthouse Square Historic District in Delphi, Indiana is a 23-acre (9.3 ha) area roughly bounded by Monroe, Main, Market and Indiana Streets. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. It includes Italianate architecture and Classical Revival architecture and work by Elmer Dunlap among its 31 contributing buildings.
Centennial Neighborhood District is a national historic district located at Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. The area originated as the Bartholomew and Davis Additions to Lafayette in 1829. Growth came rapidly after the Wabash and Erie Canal arrived in 1843, and continued with the arrival of the railroad in 1853. The Centennial Neighborhood Historic District takes its name from the Centennial School, which was constructed in 1876 on the centennial of the nation. The school was located on the northeast corner of Brown Street at North 6th Street. It has since been removed and a park was created at its original location.
Downtown Lafayette Historic District is a national historic district located at Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Lafayette began in 1825 as a transportation center for the west central area of Indiana. Its development and growth reflects the changes in transportation over the intervening years. From its location along the Wabash River, it grew first with river travel then for a short while from the Wabash and Erie Canal. When the railroads arrived in the 1850s, the town began to grow, initially along the rail lines. The Downtown Lafayette Historic District reflects these early changes.
Wabash and Erie Canal Culvert #100, also known as Burnett's Creek Arch and County Bridge #181, is a historic culvert built for the Wabash and Erie Canal and located at Adams Township, Carroll County, Indiana. It was built in 1840, and is a semicircular span measuring 20 feet long, 10 feet high, and 87 feet, 6 inches wide. It is constructed of limestone slabs. The culvert now supports a county roadway.
Deer Creek Valley Rural Historic District is a national historic district located in Deer Creek Township, Carroll County, Indiana. It encompasses 44 contributing buildings, 17 contributing sites, and 13 contributing structures on 20 historic properties near Delphi, Indiana. It includes several farmsteads, four cemeteries, two bridges, the Monon railroad right of way, the Delphi-Camden Road, and Deerk Creek and its slate bluffs. Notable farmsteads include the Mears Family Farmstead with a two-story Greek Revival style brick farmhouse.
Media related to Blue Bridge Commons at Wikimedia Commons