Indiana Covered Bridges

Marsha Williamson Mohr

Description

2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Bronze, Great Lakes regional

Watch the book trailer for Indiana Covered Bridges Visit the author's photography website

A symbol of Indiana's past, the covered bridge still evokes feelings of nostalgia, romance, and even mystery. During the 19th century, over 500 of these handsome structures spanned the streams, rivers, and ravines of Indiana. Plagued by floods, fire, storms, neglect, and arson, today fewer than 100 remain. Marsha Williamson Mohr's photographs capture the timeless and simple beauty of these well-traveled structures from around the state, including Parke County—the unofficial covered bridge capital of the world. With 105 color photographs, Indiana's Covered Bridges will appeal to everyone who treasures Indiana's rich architectural heritage.

Sujets

• Loisirs
• Collections photographiques
• Photographie Créative
• Architectural
• Themes
• Subjects
• Historical
• Industrial
• Photography
• Indiana

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 11 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780253008015
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Cataract Falls cascade into Mill Creek in Owen County.
Neet Bridge, built in 1904, crosses Little Raccoon Creek in Parke County.
INDIANA
Covered Bridges
MARSHA WILLIAMSON MOHR

Foreword by
RACHEL BERENSON PERRY
This book is a publication of
QUARRY BOOKS
an imprint of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
2012 by Marsha Williamson Mohr
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in China
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mohr, Marsha Williamson.
Indiana covered bridges / Marsha Williamson Mohr ; foreword by Rachel Berenson Perry.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-253-00800-8 (cl : alk. paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-00801-5 (ebook)
1. Covered bridges-Indiana. I. Title.
TG 24.16 M 65 2012
624.2 1809772-dc23
2012010161
1 2 3 4 5 17 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
FOREWORD BY RACHEL BERENSON PERRY
GALLERY
COMPLETE LIST OF INDIANA COVERED BRIDGES
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Dunbar Bridge, built in 1880, crosses Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County.
FOREWORD
The Allure of the Covered Bridge
RACHEL BERENSON PERRY
THE MEANDERING OHIO AND WABASH RIVERS shape the southern borders of our great state of Indiana, and multiple streams and tributaries crisscross our 92 counties like fine lines of age on a familiar face. From the Kankakee, Yellow, and Eel Rivers in the north; through central Indiana s Wildcat Creek, Mississinewa, and the forks of the mighty White River; to Pigeon Creek, the Muskatatuck and Blue Rivers in the south; the waterways have trickled and gushed since before the Northwest Territory s first settlers.
Tell-tale sentries of white-trunked sycamores marking creek banks through meadows and along ravines; dramatic limestone bluffs overlooking the Ohio River; and pastoral brooks that are transformed into raging floodwaters each spring; are all part of our collective consciousness as Hoosiers.
The bridges that cross our plethora of waterways, however, are rarely considered. We drive at high speeds over elevated road surfaces that barely differ from the rest of the highway, often with side barriers blocking our view of the river below. Traveling without hindrance along public thoroughfares seems like a basic entitlement.
Rivers and creeks, however, were formidable impediments that caused lengthy detours and precarious travel conditions in the early 1800s. The neophyte state of Indiana in the 1820s initiated a system of State Roads to connect the larger settlements. With most early settlers arriving from the south, the first road built connected New Albany to Paoli, and later extended west to Vincennes. Within a decade, this expanding road included Bloomington, Greencastle, Crawfordsville, and Lafayette.
As state counties were established, the main concern for elected commissioners became the locations of proposed roads. The first improved roads beginning in 1848, plank roads, consisted of large tree trunks laid approximately fourteen feet apart on each side with smaller trees trimmed and placed adjacently across the trunks. This method of road building, especially useful for traversing swampy areas, was short-lived due to the inevitable rotting and destruction of the wood.
Privately managed companies, called gravel road companies, organized and took over the building and maintenance of the county roads. Each company consisted of land owners along the proposed road, members to be taxed according to the value of their land. The company agreed to maintain the road, including culverts and bridges, and could collect tolls from non-residents. Every male citizen over twenty-one was required to work two days each year on roads, usually in his home neighborhood. 1
In the late