Indiana Bridges and Barns

I was having dinner with Tracey and relayed upcoming plans for roadtrippin’ through the Midwest en route to a family wedding. Antiquing was of course on the agenda, but I questioned what else there was to see and do.

“Did you know there are covered bridges near Indianapolis?” she wondered.

Really? Oh, Mark’s gonna love this!

Tracey and I worked together back in 2006 when he and I did an impromptu holiday weekend through Iowa. She well remembered my stories of how we bounced down the gravel back roads of Madison County so I could photograph all six of its covered bridges. Let’s just say Mark was an incredible sport. I had no idea there were similar structures in Indiana, let alone along the very path we would be taking to Missouri. I jumped on line to see what I could discover (what did we used to do before Google?) and found an entire website dedicated to the covered bridges of the Hoosier State (http://www.countyhistory.com/index.html). Comparing the location of the 91 standing covered bridges to our travel route, we could see another half dozen or so. Major score! And as an added bonus, I found out there were a whole lotta round barns in the area as well. You already know how I feel about barns …

Fast forward to travel day. Our first stop was along the banks of the Mississinewa River. The Matthews Covered Bridge, which is also known as the Cumberland Covered Bridge, crosses the waters on the east edge of Matthews in Grant County. You know you’re in rural America when the thoroughfare you’re looking for is called County Road South 990! With ever-dependable Bernice Garmin narrating the way, we found the bridge without incident.

The first bridge in Matthews was an open structure built in 1863 by William Parks. In 1878 the Smith Bridge Company built an uncovered structure at the same location for $722; a local contractor finished the roof and siding in 1879. This single-span Howe Truss structure has a length of 175 feet, or 183 feet if you include the 4-foot overhang at each end. A flood floated it a half mile downstream in 1913 before it was returned to its foundation by rollers and horsepower. Though no historical marker is present, the Matthews Covered Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. After many years of use, this structure was restored in 1999 and can still be traversed today.

By the time we reached Bartholomew County, we were seriously running against the clock and rapidly losing daylight. Worst case scenario was that if it was too dark by the time we found Mill Race Park where the New Brownsville Bridge crosses the edge of a pond, we’d double-back and check it out in the morning. But it was not meant to be. We were double-whammied by the torrential downpours which plagued the area earlier in week. Major flooding had occurred and the roads in the park were closed. We were disappointed, but filed away a visit for the next time we are in the area. Columbus, Indiana looks like a great place to explore.

Strikes 2 and 3 occurred the next morning while at the Jackson Country Visitor Center. We learned the Bell Ford Covered Bridge had collapsed into the White River back in 2006 and existed no more. Boo! Flood waters had run rampant here as well and also rendered the Medora Covered Bridge inaccessible. Boo! But despite its near-flood conditions,

we were able to see the Shieldstown Covered Bridge. Hurray!

Located near Brownstown on … yes, you guessed it … County Road 200 North, the Shieldstown Covered Bridge was the fourth and last of such structures to be constructed in Jackson County. Built by JJ Daniels at a cost of $13,600, the two-span bridge was completed on November 17, 1876. The 355-foot long structure spans the east fork of the White River and looks similar to the Matthews Covered Bridge. This one, however, utilizes the Burr Arch truss system. It was closed to traffic in the 1980s.

Jackson County is also home to two round barns. The Stuckwish Barn is located on County Road 460 West (do we see a theme here?) in Driftwood Township. Completed in 1911 by Daryl Carter for George Stuckwish, it was patterned after the nearby Mahan round barn.

It’s 60 feet in diameter with a self-supporting two-pitch gambrel roof and was constructed of locally milled beech wood. The Mahan barn was purchased by Mr. Stuckwish in 1913, but destroyed by fire in 1983.

 

The Hall Barn? Strike 4! When built in 1910 by Louis Geyer, the well-equipped barn boasted a roomy drive and an apartment for a veterinarian. Unfortunately, it was also located in the now-flooded Medora area on what appeared to be a private farm.  Now I have no qualms about trespassing to obtain good photos (shhhhh … my motto has always been that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission), but Mark assured me his Traverse was not capable of swimming. That winding road was well underwater and we were only able to admire the structure from afar …

and through a zoom lens!

At least the weeds were flourishing in all that water.

Time to get the heck out of Jackson County!

We always come up with a loose game plan as to what we want to see and do while exploring. No sense in showing up someplace without a clue as to what it has to offer, right? Yet we are more than flexible and willing to switch from Plan A to Plan B if a change of plans is warranted. This time around we did just that. To make a long story short (more details in my next post), we turned left and headed south instead of traveling west to Vincennes. The George Rogers Clark National Historic Park and several more covered bridges would have to wait.

Couple the wrath of the weather gods with an impromptu detour and in actuality we only ended up seeing two bridges and a barn and a half. Ah well, better those than none at all, huh? We’ll take what we can get!