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Spencerville or Coburn, DeKalb County

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Inventory Number: IN/14-17-01
County: DeKalb County
Township: Spencer
Town/Village: Spencerville
Bridge Name: Spencerville or Coburn
Crosses: St. Joseph River
Truss type: Smith Triple
Spans: 1+
Length: 160' floor
Roadway Width:
Built: 1873
Builder: John A. McKay & Alpheus Wheelock
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N41 16.885
Longitude: W084 54.874
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.3 miles north of Allen County line on IN1 to Spencerville, then 0.3 miles right on Mill St. East edge of Spencerville.

Coburn or Spencerville Bridge, Spencer, DeKalb County, IN Built 1873
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 26, 2020

Coburn or Spencerville Bridge, Spencer, DeKalb County, IN Built 1873
© Lisa Plamondon

Coburn or Spencerville Bridge, Spencer, DeKalb County, IN Built 1873
Todd Clark Collection

Coburn or Spencerville Bridge, Spencer, DeKalb County, IN Built 1873
Judy Wood Photo showing damage from oversize truck.

Coburn or Spencerville Bridge, Spencer, DeKalb County, IN Built 1873
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 26, 2020

Comments:
33-33N-14E. 12-panel truss. Spencerville was an important commercial center for the southeastern part of the county. The Spencerville grist and sawmills were located on the west side of the river. An 1863 map indicates that a bridge was located at the site of the present bridge, suggesting that this was a strategic location providing access to the grist and sawmills. The first legal notice for the bridge appeared in the July 10, 1873, Waterloo Press. The contract was awarded to John A. McKay, who was one of the agents for the Smith Bridge Company. McKay had worked with Alpheus Wheelock on constructing the DeKalb County Courthouse ten years earlier, and on the Dills Covered Bridge, also a Smith truss, two miles upstream in 1868. The bridge, constructed of Michigan white pine, was essentially completed in December of 1873. This bridge, like many of the bridges from the Smith Bridge Company, was probably assembled from parts that were cut in Toledo and shipped. In 1916 the original wood piers near the west abutment were replaced with poured concrete piers. In 1920 the concrete approach and additional waterway were installed on the west end. The original wood piers on the east end were replaced with concrete in 1922. In 1954 the sills and flooring were replaced. The bridge was closed in the spring of 2002 after a semi-truck went through and damaged the structure (locals say it caused the bridge to sink about 4 feet). In 2003, a new bridge was built to bypass it approximately 200 feet to the west of the covered bridge. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 2, 1981.

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 165
“Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
Gould, George E.. Indiana's Covered Bridges Thru the Years, 1977
Travis, Dale. 'Indiana Covered Bridges List', updated to 11 Feb 2005, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbin.htm (8 Mar 2005)
County History Preservation Society (no longer accessible). Covered Bridges of Indiana, 2002, http://www.countyhistory.com/coveredbridge/dekalb1.htm
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 15