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Crown Point or Milroy (relocated), Lake County

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Inventory Number: IN/14-45-01
County: Lake County
Township: Center
Town/Village: Crown Point
Bridge Name: Crown Point or Milroy (relocated)
Crosses: swale
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 85' floor
Roadway Width:
Built: 1878 (M1933)
Builder: Archibald M. Kennedy & Sons
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N41 24.238
Longitude: W087 22.369
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.0 miles south of US231 (W Joliet St.) and the Lake County Courthouse on S Court St. to the Gate 2 entrance of the Lake County Fairgrounds. West edge of Crown Point.

Crown Point or Milroy Bridge, Center, IN Built 1878 (M1933)
© Lisa Plamondon

Crown Point or Milroy Bridge, Center, IN Built 1878 (M1933)
Dale J. Travis Photo

Crown Point or Milroy Bridge, Center, IN Built 1878 (M1933)
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 15, 2021

Comments:
17-34N-8W. 10-panel truss. The bridge was originally built in 1878 by Archibald M. Kennedy near Milroy in Rush County, where it crossed the Little Flatrock River as IN/14-70-15. It was moved to Crown Point, Lake County, in 1933 where it still stands on the Lake County Fairgrounds. Now IN/14-45-01. Per the Rushville Republican, January 21, 1931, the covered bridge southwest of Milroy near the Fred Shelhorn farm experienced an attempted arson on January 16, 1931. Only relatively minor damage was done before the fire was extinguished. Per the Rushville Republican, June 15, 1933, "Covered Wooden Bridge To Go From County To Hammond - A covered wooden bridge in Rush county will be removed to Lake county where it will be erected over a small creek in the fairgrounds at Hammond. The bridge — purchased by Lake county officials for $20 — is the one which has spanned Little Flatrock creek two miles southwest of Milroy since 1878. The price of the bridge includes a 200-mile delivery haul to Hammond, Lake county officials stated. The structure, known as the Shelhom bridge, is being torn down prior to the erection of a new bridge by the state highway department, this road having been included by the state department as part of state road 3’s new route. Work of dismantling the old bridge was under way Thursday, according to residents of that neighborhood. The bridge will be torn down in sections and removed by highway trucks to Lake county’s fairgrounds at Hammond where it will be reassembled over a small creek. A temporary bridge is being erected over Little Flatrock at the site of the old one, persons living in that section said. The Shelhom bridge was one of a large number of covered wooden structures erected by the late A. M. Kennedy and his son, E. L. Kennedy, in this section. Kennedy bridges have long been known for their sturdiness of structure. The bridge being dismantled for state road 3’s new route was erected by E. L. Kennedy in 1878. There are approximately a dozen covered wooden bridges still serving the public in Rush county, most of these structures being Kennedy bridges. Rush county residents are inclined to disagree with the contention of Lake county officials that the bridge they purchased is one of three of this particular type of bridge remaining in the United States. Several local persons claim that the Shelhorn bridge is the same type as a number of others erected by the Kennedys in Rush and adjoining counties late in the 19th century."

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 180
Rushville Republican, January 21, 1931, 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/lake1.htm
Travis, Dale. 'Indiana Covered Bridges List', updated to 11 Feb 2005, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbin.htm (8 Mar 2005)
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 19

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