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] The county 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 meander 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 also had two bridge builders that would build most of the bridges in the county. The first of these was J.J. Daniels. Born in 1826, in Marietta, Ohio, he would go on to build 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 go on to build 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 based on the original blueprints in 2006.[3]

List of bridges

Name Image 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 their length.

See also

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.
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