Opened 1913 Owner Parke County, Indiana Rebuilt 1977 | Material Wood Cross Sugar Creek Township | |
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Address Bloomingdale, IN 47832, USA MPS Parke County Covered Bridges Similar Narrows Covered Bridge, Bowsher Ford Bridge, Wilkins Mill Covered Bridge, Zacke Cox Covered Bridge, Billie Creek Covered Bridge | ||
Driving over cox ford covered bridge by turkey run state park in indiana
The Cox Ford Covered Bridge crosses Sugar Creek along the west edge of Turkey Run State Park, Parke County.
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History
This single span Burr Arch truss structure has a length of 160 ft (49 m), or 176 ft (54 m) including the 8 ft (2.4 m) overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 16 ft (4.9 m) wide by 13 ft (4.0 m) in height. Built in 1913 by Joseph A. Britton, the Cox Ford Covered Bridge has a rather unusual distinction as it was built to replace a steel bridge lost in the 1913 flood; the arches used to construction this structure were from the Armiesburg Covered Bridge, built 60 years earlier and also washed out during the 1913 flood.
During the Great Depression, the Cox Ford Covered Bridge received a new coat of paint that was applied by a Works Progress Administration group, and though no historical marker is present, the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It is listed in the 1989 World Guide to Covered Bridges, published by The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Inc., as #14-61-34; however, the designation used by Parke County officials is #14-61-36. In the February 1938 Indiana History Bulletin, Robert B. Yule and Richard C. Smith assigned the designation 'sg' to this Covered Timber Bridge located in Section 28, Township 17 North, and Range 7 West, about 1/2 a mile west of Turkey Run State Park.