Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Inventory Number: IN/14-53-14x / IN-60-03x County: Monroe County / Owen County Township: Bean Blossom - Wayne Town/Village: Gosport Bridge Name: Gosport Crosses: West Fork of White River Truss type: Smith Triple (#4) Spans: 3 Length: 339' Roadway Width: Built: 1870 Builder: Smith Bridge Company When Lost: 28 Oct 1955 Cause: Arson Latitude: N39 20.92 Longitude: W086 39.53 See a map of the area Topographic map of the area Directions: Just east of Gosport. 32-11N-2W.	Gosport Bridge, Monroe County, IN Built 1870 Lost 1955 Eugene Bock Photo, NSPCB Archives
Comments: 14-panel truss. The Gosport bridge was built at the location known as Brownings Ferry. The bridge originally had 3 wooden spans, but the western span was an uncovered wood combination Post Truss (as seen in an 1883 stereoview) and was replaced due to weathering after about 15 years. Circa 1885-1890, the span on the Gosport side was replaced with an iron Whipple truss span. The presence of the railroads on the west side may have been the reasoning for leaving the west span uncovered. The wooden spans were later strengthened with iron rods sometime after original construction. In 1954 the bridge was closed because of weakened timbers in the east span. In the spring of 1955, that span collapsed. Residents continued to use the bridge by climbing a ladder at the pier and walking across the remaining wooden and iron spans. On the night of October 28, 1955, three vandals burned the center span. 10 firefighters were on that span when it collapsed, killing 1 and injuring 8. Per the Richmond Weekly Palladium, July 1, 1871, "White River is to be bridges at Gosport and Spencer. Gosport will shell out $10,000 and Spencer 16,000 towards paying for the bridge."
Sources: Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 144 Richmond Weekly Palladium, July 1, 1871, p.2. Newport (RI) Daily News, October 28, 1955, page 2 Gould, George E.. Indiana's Covered Bridges Thru the Years, 1977 County History Preservation Society (no longer accessible). Covered Bridges of Indiana, 2002, http://www.countyhistory.com/coveredbridge/monroe13.htm Indiana Covered Bridge Society. Indiana Covered Bridge Society Newsletter, Volume 5, number 3, July 1968, page 1 Boshears, Jeremy R.. The Covered Bridges of Monroe County, 2019

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