CROOKS COVERED BRIDGE

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The Crooks Covered Bridge, originally known as the Walker Adams Covered Bridge, currently crosses Little Raccoon Creek on County Road South 275 East at County Road South 225 East, in Parke County. This single span Burr Arch Truss structure has a length of 132 feet, or 154 feet including the 11-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 14 feet wide by 13 feet high. First built in 1855-56 by Henry Wolf, the road that the bridge sat on was abandoned in 1863 and the structure was taken down. There is considerable confusion about this phase of the bridges life as some say it was washed down stream where it was raised and a new foundation while others say the creek changed course necessitating the move. According to Bob McElwee in "Bridges to the Past" General Arthur Patterson rebuilt the bridge in 1867 at Darroch's Site which had been selected by J. J. Daniels, who had been commissioned to rebuild the bridge. Crooks Covered Bridge is the oldest of its kind in Parke County still resting on its original "hewn" stone foundation and, though no historical marker is present, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Crooks 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 #14-61-17; however, the designation used by Parke County officials is #14-61-12 ... in the February 1938 "Indiana History Bulletin" Robert B. Yule and Richard C. Smith assigned the designation "f" to this Covered Timber Bridge located in Section 21, Township 15 North, and Range 7 West, 2-1/2 miles southeast of Rockville.

• Covered Bridge Project Resources

• Regarding Covered Bridge Designations

• PCI, Covered Bridge Capital

... Photographic selection of Parke County Covered Bridges ...