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Gosport, Monroe County

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

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Inventory Number: IN/14-53-14x / IN-60-03x
County: Monroe County / Owen County
Township: Bean Blossom - Wayne
Town/Village: Gosport
Bridge Name: Gosport
Crosses: West Fork of White River
Truss type: Smith Triple (#4)
Spans: 3
Length: 339'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1870
Builder: Smith Bridge Company
When Lost: 28 Oct 1955
Cause: Arson
Latitude: N39 20.92
Longitude: W086 39.53
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Just east of Gosport. 32-11N-2W.

Gosport Bridge, Monroe County, IN Built 1870 Lost 1955
Eugene Bock Photo, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
14-panel truss. The Gosport bridge was built at the location known as Brownings Ferry. The bridge originally had 3 wooden spans, but the western span was an uncovered wood combination Post Truss (as seen in an 1883 stereoview) and was replaced due to weathering after about 15 years. Circa 1885-1890, the span on the Gosport side was replaced with an iron Whipple truss span. The presence of the railroads on the west side may have been the reasoning for leaving the west span uncovered. The wooden spans were later strengthened with iron rods sometime after original construction. In 1954 the bridge was closed because of weakened timbers in the east span. In the spring of 1955, that span collapsed. Residents continued to use the bridge by climbing a ladder at the pier and walking across the remaining wooden and iron spans. On the night of October 28, 1955, three vandals burned the center span. 10 firefighters were on that span when it collapsed, killing 1 and injuring 8. Per the Richmond Weekly Palladium, July 1, 1871, "White River is to be bridges at Gosport and Spencer. Gosport will shell out $10,000 and Spencer 16,000 towards paying for the bridge."

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 144
Richmond Weekly Palladium, July 1, 1871, p.2.
Newport (RI) Daily News, October 28, 1955, page 2
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/monroe13.htm
Indiana Covered Bridge Society. Indiana Covered Bridge Society Newsletter, Volume 5, number 3, July 1968, page 1
Boshears, Jeremy R.. The Covered Bridges of Monroe County, 2019

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