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Indian Creek or Salt Sulphur Springs, Monroe County

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

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Inventory Number: WV/48-32-02
County: Monroe County
Township: Springfield
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Indian Creek or Salt Sulphur Springs
Crosses: Indian Creek
Truss type: Long
Spans: 1
Length: 51'
Roadway Width: 11'-6"
Built: 1898
Builder: E.P. & A.P. Smith with Ray & Oscar Weikel
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N37 32.811
Longitude: W080 34.534
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 4.7 miles south-southwest of jct WV3 on US219 to bridge on west side of highway opposite St. John's Church on old Section of US219. South-southwest of Union.

Indian Creek or Salt Sulphur Springs Bridge, Springfield, Monroe County, WV Built 1903
Bill Caswell Photo, July 27, 2008

Indian Creek or Salt Sulphur Springs Bridge, Springfield, Monroe County, WV Built 1898
Philippe Bonnet Photo, August 8, 1963

Comments:
Various dates have been listed for the construction of this bridge. The Monroe County Historical Society indicates that it was built in 1898 while other sources use 1893 or 1903. E.P. & A.P. Smith built the abutments for their nephew’s Ray & Oscar Weikel’s wooden structure. If the local legend that Oscar was 16 and Ray, 18 when they built the bridge, then the 1898 date would be the most likely one. Their uncles, who owned a nearby sawmill, provided the lumber and warrantied their work. The bridge cost $403 to construct. It was bypassed in 1929 according to the Monroe County Historical Society. The historical society hired a brother of the original builders to strengthen the bridge and add a new oak shingle roof after they acquired it in 1965. The roof was replaced in 2000 by Hoke Brothers Construction of Union, West Virginia, along with other repairs and a new glu-lam deck.

Sources:
Auvil, Myrtle. Covered Bridges of West Virginia Past & Present, 1973, pages 39-41
http://www.transportation.wv.gov/highways/bridge_facts/covered-bridges/Pages/IndianCreekCoveredBridge.aspx
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXIV, No. 3, Summer 1976, page 13
Wood, Miriam F. & Simmons, David A.. Covered Bridges: Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, 2007, pages 272, 278
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 160

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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