Rose against a gray sky, morning glory vine grows under the bloom
Getting ready to open
Bet there are fresh raindrops caught in the bloom
Color is peaking through, delicate drops perched on the bud
Bond Cemetery Road Bridge, aka Brown County Bridge #36, is a very interesting bridge that has been abandoned and is, frankly, degrading at a fairly rapid pace. The HistoricBridges.org website states: “The bridge is severely deteriorated and the bridge is at an increasing risk for collapse. One of the plates that is part of the floorbeam and hanger system is cracked so badly it is split nearly in half. (see photo below) Many diagonal and vertical members have extremely severe section loss at the heads. Restoration of this bridge would likely need to include disassembly and restoration of these parts in a shop setting.”
Abandonment is, ah, obvious
This historic bridge was constructed in 1908 by the Pan-American Bridge Company of New Castle, Indiana, who were very prolific iron bridge constructors in Indiana. The technical design name of this bridge is a single-span, pin-connected Pratt through truss with an “I” beam approach to the south. The bridge rests on metal abutments, wingwalls and round caisson piers.
The concrete filled metal caisson foundation
The cracked plate referenced above
Looking through the decorative lattice guardrail at North Fork of Salt Creek
Bridge behind camera looking down old Bond Cemetery Road
This bridge spans the North Fork of Salt Creek and is a couple of hundred yards south of Green Valley Road on what is left of Bond Cemetery Road. The old road bed continues towards Highway 46 past the cemetery of that name. There was discussion in the early 2000’s about building some type of trail along the road, including refurbishing the bridge as part of the trail. Too bad nothing ever came of that plan.
Note the “interlaced” I beam verticals, and the moss growing on the deck boards.
This is one of those stories that apparently will not have a happy ending. The private owner of the bridge does not seem to care if the bridge collapses. According to the experts at HistoricBridges.org it is not a matter of if, but when this classic 1908 bridge goes down. What a shame.
Last year was supposed to be the great 17 year mass cicada emergence across the Midwest and East coast. In our part of Indiana we only saw one cicada shell and heard none of the loud insects. Within the last two weeks we have heard a lot of cicadas at night. We have found four of them on the tires of our vehicle. One is in the photo, above. They missed the big show by a year…
Ice Cream Shop patio, Nashville, Indiana
A bear with flowers
Big chair at a mattress store, Maj provides scale
Next to a Brown County road
In Brown County State Park
Barn in B&W
This beautiful Kennedy Brothers bridge started its life in 1885 by spanning Little Blue River northeast of Shelbyville, Indiana. In 1975, instead of demolishing the bridge to make way for a modern bridge, Cedar Ford was relocated to the Shelby County Fairgrounds.
Beautiful white reconstructed bridge
The bridge remained at the fairgrounds for several years and was a great addition to the historic fairgrounds. However, someone raised a liability issue, and unfortunately the fair had the bridge dismantled, sold it to a private individual and then it was stored unprotected for years. So much for “historic” Shelby County Fairgrounds.
One of the abutments
Kennedy Bros trademark scroll work
A Monroe County, Indiana engineer named Jim Barker got ahold of the useable parts and incorporated them into the design of the fully authentic covered bridge. According to Bridge Hunter website the bridge was reconstructed at “the site of the Millikan/Milligan/McMillan/Williams Covered Bridge that was destroyed by an arson fire in 1976. Remnants of the original abutments of that bridge can be seen just West of the current bridge. Although that bridge wasn’t a Kennedy built span, there were at least two of them that once existed in Monroe County.”
Typical notched connection joint
The Burr-Arch truss
This reconstruction took place in 2019 with as many of the original members as were structurally sound. New materials were faithfully reproduced when required to finish the structure. This bridge is a Kennedy Brothers Burr-arch truss design typical of Kennedy bridges in Indiana. It spans Bean Blossom Creek on Old Maple Grove Road north of Bloomington.
Looks, sounds and smells like it did in 1885
The smell of freshly sawn lumber is perhaps the most remarkable feature of this marvelous rebuild. That’s right, when we walked across the deck of the 127 foot long span, you could clearly smell the clean scent of newly sawn lumber. You can’t help but realize that that fragrance is what the first users of the bridges encountered as they crossed the first time.
These home grown beauties ripen fast once they start to turn
There were several more that almost made a Fairy Ring…
Our two tomato plants have done quite nicely the past month, giving us, as you can see, some nice fruits. The backyard also was fertile ground, it seems, for quite a few mushrooms that showed up overnight.
A history and legend filled roadside oddity can be found on CR 400S outside of Amity, Indiana which is south of Indianapolis in Johnson County. The story begins in 1808 when 14 year old Nancy Kerlin married William Barnett. The couple had 11 kids.
The only marker on the grave
Fast forward to 1831, the year of Nancy’s passing. She had a favorite spot on a rise overlooking nearby Sugar Creek. This became her final resting place. Stories say that others began to be buried there as well, creating a small country cemetery. A road was discussed through the cemetery, but Nancy’s son refused to move his mother, so the road went around her.
The road still splits around the graves
In the early 1900’s CR 400 was plotted out, again right through Nancy’s grave site. This is when her grandson Daniel Doty showed up with his shotgun refusing to allow any such activity. Don’t mess with Grandma’s grave! Thus the county said fine, they would run the road on either side of the grave.
The old raised grave mound, photo by Rick Hinton
Over the years vehicle traffic, including large farm machinery, took its toll on both the protection barriers and the grave mound itself. Then in 2016 it was decided that the grave should be lowered and covered with a low profile concrete structure. Archaeology students from the University of Indianapolis excavated the grave and were surprised by the discovery of not just Nancy’s body but remains of six others.
New (2016) historical plaque
The bodies of two women, a man and four children were reburied in individual coffins. The low profile concrete structure now protects Nancy and other early Indiana pioneers. Today flowers and hundreds of coins adorn the surface of the grave in the middle of the road.
Driving through Brown County Indiana’s countryside on a recent day trip we saw quite a bit of wildlife. Off to the left our son spotted a fawn just standing there about 30 yards from the road. Fawns typically lose their white spots 90 to 120 days after birth. It just stayed perfectly still and we drove on after a few minutes.
Mother would be watching as the fawn just stared at us
Then Maj saw a doe to the left about 75 yards off the road. We stopped the car and backed up the 50 or so feet until we could see that there was also a fawn with this doe.
They were right on the tree line
They’re still just looking at us, no movement
Mom says it is time to go
It is always a thrill to see wildlife. Seeing deer seems especially neat, perhaps because they are so large compared to squirrels or raccoons. Oh, and do you see why these are named whitetail deer?
According to Shelby County Indiana history, following is part of the backstory of Jollity United Methodist Church: “Back in the gray and misty dawn of the history of Jackson Township, Shelby County, there came two men who settled in what is now known as the Jollity Neighborhood. These men, William Shipp and Burgess Waggoner, brought their families from Kentucky and settled near the Brockman Cemetery.”
The first church was a wooden frame building about a mile from the existing church. The cost of this was around $300.00. It was replaced in 1871 with a new brick church edifice on a new corner of land. The church is on the Shelby/Johnson County line, closer to Franklin than to Shelbyville.
Church Marquee with Holy statue in background
Memorial Flowering Dogwood, planted in April, 1989
Unfortunately a tornado hit the church in 1877. It was repaired, and over the years renovations and building additions were constructed, one with several small Sunday School rooms, a fellowship hall and a kitchen.
Mr. Reasner must have loved horses
Research has determined that the name of the church, Jollity, is most likely named after Frederick Jollity, the man who originally surveyed Johnson County between 1820 and 1830. The church started as a small group of neighbors who came to Indiana in the 1820’s. The National Methodist website lists the current congregation as 18 members, probably close to the original size of the group.
Nashville, Indiana is in the center of Brown County, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis.. The town was established in 1836 as Jacksonburg, however a year later the name was changed to Nashville after Nashville, Tennessee. It was on our itinerary of our recent day trip.
The inviting store front
We were able to find a great street parking spot, as the crowds were not huge like they can be. Off to the Nashville Fudge Kitchen we went, as Sher had already spotted this during her trip preparation. What a marvelous inventory this place had for sale! As soon as you walk in your nose is flooded with delicious scents.
Popcorn in all flavors
Gelato and ice creams, yum!
Roadtirement 