September 2018 THE BEACON Page 5A
Hidden Historic Charm and Engineering Masterpieces
The Logan Creek , or Pinhook Bridge was built in 1874 by Archibald and Emmett Kennedy . Notice the scroll work and roof arches that are characteristic of Kennedy & Sons designs . ( photo courtesy of Terry Viel )
Archibald McMichael Kenedy was the first of three generations of bridge builders . Moved from Yorkridge Road in 1960 , severely damaged by fire in 1993 , then rebuilt in 1998 , the Guilford Bridge is a lovely addition to Guilford Park on SR 1 .
Built in 1905 by George Reuss , the Seal Barn Bridge over Big Cedar Creek is 60 ’ long .
Continued from page 4A covered aqueducts in Indiana . The St . Mary ’ s Aqueduct in Ft . Wayne was not only used for transportation ; it was a favorite swimming spot . There are
The beauty of a covered bridge is not always obvious from the front or side . Often the craftsmanship is visible only from below .
stories of bathers in the buff scrambling for cover upon the approach of an unexpected canal boat . This aqueduct was deliberately blown up in 1882 , having lost its roof a decade earlier .
Duane Drockelmann with the Ripley County Historical Society utilizes maps and historical documents to identify Ripley County ’ s lost covered bridges . Records indicate that at least three had been built before 1863 , but many were completed during the 1880s . One of which is the Busching Bridge , built in 1885 by Thomas Hardman and still in daily use . Only one year prior to the opening of this 176 ’ structure spanning Laughery Creek , Mr . Hardman finished the Otter Creek Bridge in Holton . Unfortunately , it is no longer open , but remains a favorite spot for photographers and covered bridge enthusiasts .
At least two of Mr . Hardman ’ s covered bridges , the 1880 Ballstown Bridge near Batesville ,
and the 1884 High Bridge Park Bridge near Delaware , exist only in photographs . The same fate fell upon the Pipe Stem Bridge , built in 1889 by Phillip Ensminger , after it was removed in 1971 .
Cassie Blankenhorn , the genealogy and local history manager with the Lawrenceburg Public Library , and Joyce Baer , president of the Dearborn County Historical Society , express their appreciation for the nearly 140-yearold Guilford Bridge . This lone survivor of at least twelve covered bridges once found in Dearborn County was built by the Archibald Kennedy family .
Three generations of Kennedys built more than fifty covered bridges in Indiana , including the 1874 Longnecker Bridge destroyed in the 1913 Whitewater River flood . Archibald , with sons Emmett and Charles F . ( who left the family business to become a lawyer ), and grandsons Karl and Charles R ., sometimes used the Kingpost and Howe trusses in their structures , but are most often identified with the Burr arch truss , as seen in the Guilford Bridge .
Emmett Kennedy ’ s handcarved 42 ” model of a burr truss was shown to prospective clients to extoll the virtues
of Kennedy bridges . Archibald Kennedy would illustrate the strength of the design first by placing a heavy book on the scale model supported between two chairs – and then A . M . Kennedy , who reportedly weighed 250 pounds , would stand on the suspended model . The presentation was almost always successful .
The company ’ s practice of pre-fabricating trusses at their sizable lumber yards before transporting the sections for later assembly on-site is attributed to Emmett Kennedy , but many innovative bridge designers were hard at work throughout the area . Reportedly , Aurora had a number of covered bridges , including one at Exporting Street , another on Importing Street ( circa 1843 ), and yet another bridge to the west which was the first to use a McCallum truss .
Aurora ’ s Main Street covered bridge , built by George W . Lane in 1836 , can be seen in a lithograph of Aurora included in the 1876 Indiana atlas . The bridge was used until 1887 when it was burned rather than relocated .
Debbie Rolfes with the Harrison Historical Society shares prints of a photograph taken by Terry Viel ’ s father in 1948 , of the Logan Creek Bridge ,
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built by Archibald Kennedy & Sons in 1874 . Operational until Logan Creek Road was moved and renamed State Road 46 , this was not the only covered bridge in the area . Along Harrison Pike were two double-barreled , or two-lane , covered bridges . One crossed Dry Fork Creek ; the other spanned the Great Miami River . Like many covered bridges situated on toll roads , these were much larger than any found on country lanes and sometimes included pedestrian walkways on both sides of the already extra-wide structure .
By the early 1900s , covered wooden bridges were being replaced with steel structures . Emmett Kennedy had retired from the family bridge building business , but after the Whitewater River flood severely damaged covered bridges near Brookville and Metamora , he returned to work . Soon the Kennedy family was busy with covered bridge repair and rebuilding as shortages of steel during WWI made the preservation of wooden bridges a necessity ; indirectly postponing or preventing their destruction .
For more information about covered bridges and builders of Indiana , contact your local county historian .
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