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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Melcher or Klondyke or Marion, 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/14-61-26
Parke County Number: PC-24
County: Parke County
Township: Reserve
Town/Village: Montezuma
Bridge Name: Melcher or Klondyke or Marion
Crosses: Leatherwood Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 83' floor, 97' roofline
Roadway Width:
Built: 1896
Builder: Joseph J. Daniels
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 47.345
Longitude: W087 20.105
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.0 mile east of Montezuma on US36, then 0.1 miles left on CR600W, then right 1.0 miles on Strawberry Rd. East of Montezuma.

Melcher or Klondyke or Marion Bridge, Reserve, Parke County, IN Built 1896
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Melcher or Klondyke or Marion Bridge, Reserve, Parke County, IN Built 1896
Dale J. Travis Photo

Melcher or Klondyke or Marion Bridge, Reserve, Parke County, IN Built 1896
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, November 14, 2019

Comments:
8-panel truss. Although built by J.J. Daniels, the bridge now has portals more like the shorter bridges of William Hendricks and Joseph Britton. The abutments were originally hewn limestone and shale. They have since been encased in concrete. The bridge is known by a number of names. Marion Bridge from the former Marion Brick Plant, Klondyke from the name of a nearby community and Melcher from the nearby Melcher Station of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway (1846-1917). It was restored 1995.

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 107
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/melcher.htm
Rau, Harold. A Guide to the Covered Bridges of Parke County, Indiana, 2016, pages 42-43
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 24

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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