The Melcher Covered Bridge, also known as the "Klondyke Covered Bridge", "Marion Covered Bridge", or the "Leatherwood Covered Bridge" crosses Leatherwood Creek east of

Montezuma, Indiana Montezuma is a town in Reserve Township, Parke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,022 at the 2010 census. It is located approximately 66 miles west of Indianapolis History Montezuma was laid out in about 1824. The town wa ...

, and is a single-span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge structure that was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1896. ''Note:'' This includes an
Site map
It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978.

History

The name "Melcher Covered Bridge" comes from the nearby Melcher Station which was originally on the

Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (1846–1917) The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (CH&D) was a railroad based in the U.S. state of Ohio that existed between its incorporation on March 2, 1846, and its acquisition by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in December 1917. It was origina ...

. The CH&D and the

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two Worl ...

crossed just west of the bridge. The name "Marion Covered Bridge" comes from the Marion Brick Company which was south and west of the bridge. The bridge may have been built to provide road access to Montezuma located two miles west. The name "Klondyke Covered Bridge" comes from the nearby community of Klondyke, named after the Klondike Gold Rush, but in this case it was clay for bricks. The name "Leatherwood Covered Bridge" was used but would cause confusion with Leatherwood Station Covered Bridge and Leatherwood Ford. While the bridge was built by J. J. Daniels the portals no longer have his trademark portal arches. The portals have been modified to closer resemble those built by William Hendricks and Joseph A. Britton on their shorter bridges. The original

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

of the shale and hewn

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

abutments, which matches stone in the creek, has crumbled so cement was poured around the original stone.

References

{{NRHP bridges Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Parke County, Indiana Bridges completed in 1896 Bridges Built by J. J. Daniels Wooden bridges in Indiana Burr Truss bridges in the United States

History

See also

References