NEW BROWNSVILLE COVERED BRIDGE

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The New Brownsville Covered Bridge crosses the edge of a pond in Mill Race Park, Columbus, Bartholomew County. This single span Long Truss structure (the only Long Truss Bridge in Indiana) was originally built in 1840 by Adam Mason near Brownsville in Union County, where it crossed the East Fork of the Whitewater River and was 166 feet long, or 182 feet including the 8-foot overhang at each end.

In 1974 a group from Eagle Creek Reservoir in Marion County purchased this bridge from Union County. Disassembled and trucked to the park at Eagle Creek Reservoir, it sat in storage awaiting plans to assemble it in that place, which never came to pass.

When the Clifty Covered Bridge, which had been moved to Mill Race Park in Columbus, was damaged beyond repair in 1985, individuals in Columbus remembered that the Brownsville Covered Bridge was sitting at Eagle Creek and, after what must have been some wheeling and dealing, the City of Columbus purchased the disassembled bridge and had it shipped to Mill Race Park where, in 1986, it was reassembled. In its current configuration (so significantly different that I attach the word New to its name), its length having been reduced to 85 feet, or 102 feet including the overhang at each end, and though the portal shape has changed, the clearance is still 15 feet 6 inches wide by 15 feet 6 inches high.

The New Brownsville Covered Covered Bridge is listed in the 1989 "World Guide to Covered Bridges," published by The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Inc., as 14-03-02 (this is the same designation earlier used to identify the Tanneyhill Covered Bridge in George Gould's 1977 list) and is located in Sections 23 and 24, Township 9 North and Range 5 East; approximately Longitude -85.92865 and Latitude 39.20796.

According to the 1989 "World Guide" during its brief stay in Marion County the disassembled bridge was identified as #14-49-02 (the same designation earlier used for the Julietta Covered Bridge in George Gould's 1977 list); the 1972 "World Guide to Covered Bridges," published by The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Inc., identified the Brownsville Covered Bridge as 14-81-01 when it was located in Union County where it was previously identified as "ag" by the Covered Timber Bridge Commission of 1938, located in (original) Section 18, Township 14 North, Range14 East, at Brownsville.

• Covered Bridge Project Resources

• Regarding Covered Bridge Designations

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