HOME PAGE

The Lowell Covered Bridge is no longer standing … it crossed the Driftwood River on or near West Lowell Road, Bartholomew County. This double span Howe Truss structure had a length of 286 feet 6 inches, with a portal clearance of 17 feet wide by 14 feet 6 inched high. Built in 1870, the portals bore an eastern design that made it unique in Indiana, and the structure was lost in 1959. The town of Lowell was named in honor of the Massachusetts hometown of the Gale brothers, who were the first settlers in the area; because of its close proximity to Lowell, this structure also bore that moniker.

The Haw Creek Covered Bridge, later known as the Sand Creek or sometimes the Reddington Covered Bridge, is no longer standing … it originally crossed Haw Creek in Section 30, Township 9 North, and Range 6 East, on the southeast edge of Columbus, Bartholomew County. In the 1890's this 134-foot long Howe Truss structure was moved near Azalia, where it crossed Sand Creek, on or near County Road East 800 South. In 1935 a 96-foot iron span was added and the covered span was finally lost in 1941.

The New Brownsville Covered Bridge crosses the edge of a pond in Mill Race Park, Columbus, Bartholomew County. This single span Long Truss structure (the only Long Truss Bridge in Indiana) was originally built in 1840 by Adam Mason near Brownsville in Union County, where it crossed the East Fork of the Whitewater River and was 166 feet long, or 182 feet including the 8-foot overhang at each end.

In 1974 a group from Eagle Creek Reservoir in Marion County purchased this bridge from Union County. Disassembled and trucked to the park at Eagle Creek Reservoir, it sat in storage awaiting plans to assemble it in that place, which never came to pass.

When the Clifty Covered Bridge, which had been moved to Mill Race Park in Columbus, was damaged beyond repair in 1985, individuals in Columbus remembered that the Brownsville Covered Bridge was sitting at Eagle Creek and, after what must have been some wheeling and dealing, the City of Columbus purchased the disassembled bridge and had it shipped to Mill Race Park where, in 1986, it was reassembled. In its current configuration (so significantly different that I attach the word New to its name), its length having been reduced to 85 feet, or 102 feet including the overhang at each end, and though the portal shape has changed, the clearance is still 15 feet 6 inches wide by 15 feet 6 inches high.

The Tannehill Covered Bridge is no longer standing … it crossed the Driftwood River on or near County Road 650, Bartholomew County. This double span Howe Truss structure had a length of 236 feet, with a portal clearance of 16 feet 6 inches wide by 18 feet high. Built in 1870, and was probably named for the nearby Tannehill's Mill; the bridge was lost in 1965.

The 8th Street Covered Bridge is no longer standing … it crossed the Flatrock River in Bartholomew County. Built in about 1849 by Samuel Hege, his brother Levi, and Adam Keller, this Howe Truss structure had a length of 221 feet and was lost in 1926.

Bartholomew County Historical Society
524 Third Street Columbus, IN 47201
Phone (812) 372-3541 Fax (812) 372-3113
email bchs@tls.net