Actually, there were 3 structures known as the Steubenville
Covered Bridge and, though there is some question as to whether the first
2 were actually covered, none of them are now standing. The all three were
probably built on the same site crossing the Mississinewa River in Randolph
County County.
The first known structure on this site was built in 1862 and lost in 1863.
George Gould identified a World Guide number of 14-68-04 for this structure
in his book "Indiana Covered Bridges Thru the Years," published in 1977 by
the Indiana Covered Bridge Society, Inc.
The second structure on this site was built in 1863 and stood until 1883.
Gould listed #14-68-05 as the World Guide number for this second Steubenville
Covered Bridge.
The third structure
built on this site was one of 3 bridges built in Randolph County during 1883
by Archibald M. Kennedy & Sons at a cost of "eighteen dollars per lineal
foot measuring the upper chord" (not including the cost of abutments). This
single span Burr Arch structure was 140 feet long with a portal clearance
probably 16 feet wide by 13 feet high. All timbers were of white pine except
where they came in contact with stone and that was of oak; the double floors
were constructed from two-inch oak lined with one inch oak and spiked; the
siding was split poplar; and the 18 inch shingles were pine. The Steubenville
Covered Bridge was listed by Gould as having a World Guide identifier of
#14-68-03; it was removed in 1941 or 1942 most likely due to the problems
encurred by traffice due to the sharp bend in the road on the south side.
In the February 1941 "Indiana History Bulletin" Robert B. Yule and Richard
C. Smith assigned the designation "ab" to this Covered Timber Bridge located
where Sections 11, 12, 13 and 14 meet, Township 21 North, and Range 12 east,
about 3 miles southeast of Fairview. .
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