Bridges of Wells County

The Wells County Historical Society held their Spring meeting and dinner at the Wells County Public Library meeting room in Bluffton. President, Jim Sturgeon and Board Member Larry McAfee presented a program on “The Bridges of Wells County.” Jim started things off with some interesting history and facts on many of the bridges such as the Bluffton Main Street Crosby Bridge, the White’s located on the way to Ouabache State Park located east of Bluffton.

The Cover Bridge was located across the Wabash River in Rockcreek Township in Wells County. Construction on the covered bridge began in 1869 and was completed in 1870 at a cost of $7,576.15. The bridge was designed by R. W. Smith of Toledo, Ohio who developed the truss system. The structure remained in use through the years but it became a community issue as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wanted to remove the bridge as plans progressed on the Huntington Dam and Reservoir Project in the 1960’s. The proposed action created a movement by a newly formed group, “Save the Bridge Association” and the existing Wells County Historical Society. The two groups worked with the Army Corps to secure permission to save the bridge with the stipulation that the bridge would need to be raised eight feet to be out of the new flood height created by the new dam.

Next, disaster struck on May 28, 1966 when a fire set by a arson destroyed the 207 foot historic covered bridge. Who set the bridge on fire still remains a mystery today. A restored Cover Covered Bridge would have been one of only two covered bridges across the Wabash River. The other is the historic Ceylon Covered Bridge located in Wabash Township, Adams County, Indiana. It was built in 1879 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, and is a 130-foot-long truss bridge. It remains the only covered bridge over the Wabash.

Pictured here is the Vera Cruz steel bridge that was preserved when a new bridge was installed. The bridge is believed to have recently been obtained by a organization in Carroll County Indiana where it will be installed sometime in the future.