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Shelbyville Railroad or Cave Mill or Cave or Geneva (relocated), Shelby County

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Inventory Number: IN/14-73-05x
County: Shelby County
Township: Washington
Town/Village: Geneva
Bridge Name: Shelbyville Railroad or Cave Mill or Cave or Geneva (relocated)
Crosses: Flatrock River
Truss type: Howe
Spans: 2
Length:
Roadway Width:
Built: c1854 (M1877)
Builder: Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad
When Lost: 1940
Cause: Removed
Latitude: N39 23.66
Longitude: W085 45.47
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2 miles west of Geneva on East Vandalia Rd. 21-11N-7E.

Shelbyville Railroad or Cave or Geneva Bridge (relocated), Shelby County, IN Built c1854 (1877) Removed 1940
M.L. Davies Collection, c1940, Courtesy County History Preservation Society

Shelbyville Railroad or Cave or Geneva Bridge, Shelby County, IN Built c1854 (M1877) Removed 1940
Todd Clark Collection

Shelbyville Railroad or Cave or Geneva Bridge, Washington, Shelby County, IN Built c1854 (M1877) Removed 1940
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
Around 1854 the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette Railroad built this bridge across the Big Blue River at Shelbyville. In 1877 the structure was purchased from the railroad by the county and moved to its final location just west of Flat Rock Cave and a few miles east of Lewis Creek, on or near where State Road 9 crosses Flat Rock River; because of its proximity to Flat Rock Cave and the Cave Mill this double span structure became known simply as Cave Covered Bridge. The bridge was lost in 1940 when State Road 9 was relocated. The crossing is also close to Geneva and Camp Flat Rock and was at one time known as Miller's Camp. Per the Tri-County Banner (Knightstown), March 8, 1940, "Let Contract For New Bridge - The contract for a new bridge to cost $46,142 over Flat Rock river on state road 3, south of Shelbyville, was let last week to John R. Gates, a Fort Wayne contractor. The new bridge will be of two-span construction, 300 feet long, with a 28-foot roadway. The old covered bridge at this point has been in use about 75 years, has a 13½ -foot roadway. Bids will soon be received for approaches to the new bridge, which will be built at a point some distance east of the old bridge over the stream. This change in the location will eliminate two dangerous curves."

Sources:
Clark, Todd. Information received by email, September 2017
Tri-County Banner (Knightstown), March 8, 1940, p.1.
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/shelby5.htm
Indiana Covered Bridge Society. Indiana Covered Bridge Society Newsletter, Volume 6, number 2, April 1969, page 4