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Big Rocky Fork or Murphy, Parke County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: IN/14-61-01
Parke County Number: PC-06
County: Parke County
Township: Jackson
Town/Village: Mansfield
Bridge Name: Big Rocky Fork or Murphy
Crosses: Rocky Fork Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 72' floor, 88' roofline
Roadway Width:
Built: 1900
Builder: Joseph J. Daniels
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 39.774
Longitude: W087 04.842
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 6.9 miles south of US36 in Bellmore on IN59, then 1.6 miles left on CR720S. Southeast of Mansfield.

Big Rocky Fork or Murphy Bridge, Jackson, Parke County, IN Built 1900
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Big Rocky Fork or Murphy Bridge, Jackson, Parke County, IN Built 1900
Dale J. Travis Photo

Big Rocky Fork or Murphy Bridge, Jackson, Parke County, IN Built 1900
Traugott Keller Photograph, September 1, 1966, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
Closed, bypassed 1987. 7-panel truss. After the bridge was bypassed, maintenance passed from the county highway department to the park department.

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 104
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/parke/bigrockyfork.htm
Rau, Harold. A Guide to the Covered Bridges of Parke County, Indiana, 2016, pages 12-13
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 21

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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