SANATORIUM COVERED BRIDGE

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The Sanatorium Covered Bridge crosses Little Raccoon Creek and is located on private property just east of Rockville, Parke County. This single span Burr Arch Truss structure has a length of 154 feet, or 170 feet including the 8-foot overhang at each end, is 16 feet wide and 12 feet 6 inches high. Built in 1912 by Joseph A. Britton for the State Sanatorium with the specific purpose of providing access for transporting coal into the facility on a back road, this was the only Indiana covered bridge to have lightning rods.

The Sanatorium was sold to the Lee Alan Bryant Health Care Facilities, Inc., and plans are underway to move this structure to the site originally occupied by the Adam and then the Jessup Covered Bridges. This proposed move is a result of the year 2000 Allocation Plan of the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program that provided $600,000, along with $195,240 from other sources, to be used for this move and includes funding for structural repairs.

Though no historical marker is present, the Sanatorium Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Sanatorium 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 #14-61-38; however, the designation used by Parke County officials is #14-61-01 ... in the February 1941 "Indiana History Bulletin" Robert B. Yule and Richard C. Smith added this structure to their list assigning the designation "x-1" to this Covered Timber Bridge located in Section 10, Township 15 North, and Range 7 West, at Coxville.

• Covered Bridge Project Resources

• Regarding Covered Bridge Designations

• PCI, Covered Bridge Capital

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