Crossing Indiana from east to west on this trip, it turns out that the Houck Covered Bridge is the…read morelast one I will visit on this trip. It's not my favorite - that honor goes to the Dunbar Bridge that is still open to traffic and I could drive through - but this is still a fabulous bridge with a long, well-documented history. The Houck Covered Bridge was built in 1880 by the Massillon Bridge Company of Massillon Ohio. It uses a two-span Howe truss design, a system patented in 1840 that combined timber with adjustable iron rods for greater strength. The bridge originally carried County Road 550 South over Big Walnut Creek in Washington Township near Manhattan, resting on cut-limestone abutments and a central pier nearly 13 feet tall. Traffic declined after improved routes through nearby Hamrick Station were built in the 1930s and in 2014 Putnam County officials officially bypassed the bridge and restored it to pedestrian-only use. Houck gained formal recognition when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2024, part of a county-wide nomination covering all surviving covered bridges. The bridge might not be drivable any longer but it is still a beautifully preserved example of 19th-century engineering and a fitting final stop on a westbound covered-bridge tour. [Review 1043 of 2026 - 247 in Indiana - 26222 overall]

Houck Covered Bridge is a historic bridge constructed in 1880. The bridge crosses Big Walnut Creek…read moreand is no longer open to traffic, but can be walked across by pedestrians. The Howe Truss design was built by the Massillon Bridge Company of Ohio. The bridge is 210 feet long and sits on stone abutments and a pier. The Houck Covered Bridge is longest of three covered bridges over the Big Walnut Creek that we visited in Putnam County. The Putnam County Visitors Center provides free maps of the Counties nine covered bridges. I walked the length of the covered bridge and took photos. The Houck Covered Bridge was bypassed in 2014 for a new bridge, but is fortunately maintained for historical purposes. The bridge was named after the Houck family who owned the nearby property when it was built. The bridge was also referred to as the Hamrick Bridge after the Hamrick RR Station, a proposed Pennsylvania RR Station. Parking is available for four cars at the west side of the bridge. There are no other amenities at the site, except a good fishing hole.

Step back in time take a stroll across history. Located across a small stream down a gravel road…read more Makes a nice stop to stretch your legs or take a dip in the stream

The Crooks Covered Bridge is lovely, surrounded by corn fields in a picturesque setting. The bridge…read morecrosses little Raccoon Creek and was built by Henry Wolfe in 1856, making it the oldest bridge on the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival Tour. The bridge seems to be in remarkably good shape for its age. According to the Parke County map the bridge is passable by car, but there were many nail pops throughout the bridge deck, so we only crossed by foot. A modern raised road crosses creek next to the bridge for use when the creek is low. The gravel roads are narrow approaching the bridge. There is space to park and walk around the bridge. I love how the reflection of the bridge in the water.

The Bridgeton Mill was established in 1823 and is the oldest continuously runing grist mill in…read moreIndiana. Mike and Karen Roe bought the mill in 1995 and have worked feverishly to maintain and operate this 200 year old historical business. My husband and I visited the mill today and Mike spent an hour providing us with the fascinating history and tour of the mill, describing different types of ground flours and meals. He demonstrated how he mills grain. Today, the mill produces and sells a variety of different wheat flours, brans and corn meals. Grains are Amish sourced locally. I purchased blue corn meal, rare Einkorn flour, Miller's blend flour and wheat bran. I also bought a book about the local covered bridges. If you want to visit the mill, go during off peak time, before or after the Covered Bridge Festival. The crowds of tourists during the festival will make it difficult to enjoy and learn about the mill. And if you want to meet Mike, go soon, as he has the mill up for sale. Attached to the mill is a small snack bar that serves sandwiches, beverages and ice cream. The cheeseburgers are served on homemade wheat rolls and are juicy and delicious. Tables overlook the covered bridge and creek. The clerk/cook is friendly. The place is not fancy or upscale, but small town wonderful. There is no charge to visit the mill, although donations are requested to assist with repairs to the dam. Bridgeton Mill is a special place to visit and support a family-run business and learn about Indiana's history. There is plenty of parking and restroom are available.

It's a new bridge but still done in that classic style. We took this in before the Covered Bridge…read moreFestival so we could enjoy the beautiful area before the crowds. If you come during the festival this place is filled with activities and vendors

As part of managing my father's estate after his death, I've dealt with a lot of the local…read moreresources in Hendricks and Putnam Counties. Clear Creek Conservancy District was established in 1971 to provide wastewater collection and treatment to Heritage Lake on the line of Hendricks and Putnam County. It specifically services the subdivisions of Heritage Lake - Gettysburg, Jefferson Valley, Lincoln Hills, Mill Springs, Patriots Landing, and Victory Hill. The district also maintains Heritage Lake's dam and spillway. My primary contact with Clear Creek came because prior to selling a home in Heritage Lake, one must conduct an I/O report essentially assessing the health of one's sewer. This appears to be a fairly new requirement as almost no one I knew actually was aware of it and most didn't even know what it meant. Clear Creek doesn't maintain regular office hours, however, I found the pretty responsive with my questions once I figured out how to contact them. They do have a website, which I added to this listing, and they are active. The person I contacted explained the required survey and was able to recommend a couple possible people to do it in a timely manner. I hired one of the two people recommended - it was done quickly, professionally, and accurately. As seems to always be true with these smaller, more rural organizations, rates are a bit higher. Once they received the required survey, they forwarded it to the title company I was working with to help close the sale - however, there was some confusion and they didn't get it (or perhaps the wrong person did). I ended up having to send it in myself. However, I really liked these folks land I appreciated their assistance. I appreciated the help with resolving a key requirement of selling my parents' home. While I won't say they were the fastest, they were friendly and helpful and accurate. I was definitely impressed.

Vigo County's Pioneer Village can be found within Fowler Park. Besides driving through the park to…read morevisit, you can use the small parking lot along Bono Road and walk into the park from that entrance which accesses the village and covered bridge. Most of the year, the village is open to browse, but the buildings are locked. Some have convenient windows to browse in, but not all of them. You will also notice that some are authentic buildings which have been preserved by moving them to this gathering spot from across the area (including Illinois). Others are constructed from wood salvaged from other cabins/structures that had met their demise. What is created is a homogeneous collection of buildings that you might find if you could travel back in time 180 years to a small town in the area. Vigo County does open the village up the first weekend in October to re-enactors and vendors to celebrate the annual Pioneer Days. I believe there is a $5 fee for attending. I was surprised that I didn't see any promotion for the event in 2019 since I was there just a few days too early. If you are interested, I would suggest contacting the county's parks department. From what I heard from the staff at the guard house, the village has grown over the years as additional buildings have been relocated. While there, be sure to check out one of the State's oldest covered bridges on the south side of the village. Review #2957

The Oakalla Covered Bridge is currently closed to automobile traffic. The bridge crosses the big…read moreWalnut Creek in a remote and beautiful wooded area of Putnam County. We parked on the west side of the bridge and walked across the span. Several windows in the bridge offer views of the creek below. A path down to the creek on the east side offers great creek views of the bridge and stone abutments. We enjoyed some creek stomping. I found information about the bridge at the Putnam County Visitors Center. The single lane bridge spans 152 feet and uses a Burr Arch Truss. The bridge was built by the famous J. J. Daniels in 1898.

The Oakalla Covered Bridge sits just west of Greencastle, and coming from the better maintained…read moreDunbar Bridge barely ten minutes earlier, this one immediately feels older and far less refreshed. It was built in 1898 by noted Indiana bridgewright J.J. Daniels and spans Big Walnut Creek using a classic Burr-arch truss design. Since it is closed to traffic, I was only able to walk through it, which made the aging details stand out even more. The paint is peeling in big strips, several exterior boards are split, and the siding shows the kind of weathering that comes from decades without a full restoration. Oakalla takes its name from the former Oakalla Station on the Big Four Railroad, a small community that once supported quarries and lime kilns before fading away in the early twentieth century. The bridge's decline mirrors the area's history. As quarry operations shut down and roads shifted, Oakalla saw less use, and Putnam County eventually closed it to vehicles in 2022 after inspectors found structural issues. Even so, it remains historically significant. In May 2024, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, joining Putnam County's other surviving Daniels bridges. Today it stands as a weathered but authentic piece of local history. As a bridge that hasn't been recently refreshed, it still wears its age openly while awaiting the kind of rehabilitation that could bring it back to the condition of its better-maintained sisters. [Review 1041 of 2026 - 245 in Indiana - 26220 overall]

Irishman Covered Bridge, also known as Honey Creek Bridge, can be found within Fowler Park…read more Besides driving through the park to visit, you can use the small parking lot along Bono Road and walk into the park from that entrance which accesses the bridge and the Pioneer Village. This is one of the State's oldest covered bridge which makes it interesting to view the building structure. However, because of a massive restoration project (the flooring is being replace for safety and preservation of the structure), the bridge was off limits to pedestrian traffic. The bridge used to be in service but in 1971, it was relocated to the park where it now spans a small inlet off Ruble Lake. The bridge sports the classic red side walls and white faced ends that are popular in Parke County. The bridge is 75' long, so it is one of the shorter spans left in the state. I hope the repairs are completed and can preserve this bridge much as the pioneer village has saved log cabins from the area. Review #2957

Walking into this library, I thought it was your run-of-the-mill library. There were books and…read moreplaces to read. There was a teen area with a tv. Public computers offered free legal advice. Downstairs in the kid's area, there was a regular size door for adults and a pint size door for kids that was unique. A nice play area for the kids helped them learn and love the library. There was a pretty awesome tree house down in the kid's area. But when I turned the corner upstairs, things got really interesting. The digital library was housed in a former historic Carnegie Library, now a wing of the library. Tony, the head of the digital media, came out of his office when he heard our gasps to tell us the history of the Carnegie structure. Like many libraries in Indiana, the library in Greencastle was funded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie over 100 years ago. The town provided the land and commitment to maintain and Carnegie paid to build the building. The library, now the Putnam County Public Library, still maintained the original oak woodwork and fireplace mantles of the historic structure. Beautiful stained glass decorated the windows and the sky light. Historical photos of the original furniture (which is still in use today) and staff were on the wall. Tony explained that the Library had maintained and renovated the Carnegie space when they had expanded and modernized in the 1990s. Today, the center house historical information. He also showed us art by the famous Wilbur Kurtz, a former resident and art instructor in Greencastle. I highly recommend a visit if you like history and architecture. Talk to Tony (the staff is awesome). There's plenty of parking near the Library. The new section is fully accessible with restroom facilities. .

"Read.Think.Create!" is part of a six-installation public art trail in Greencastle, Indiana. This…read moreparticular piece is located inside the Putnam County Public Library and is directly over the circulation desk (Fun Fact: The circulation desk is the original Carnegie Library circulation desk). Read.Think.Create! was created by Greencastle Civic League Artists Amy Welch and Heather Wright to celebrate the old and new of libraries. It adds a beautiful energy to this 1902 library that was renovated in 1995 but still retains much of the original furniture and design. This installation is within walking distance of two others. Greencastle, in general, has quite a bit to offer within a fairly small distance. Of course, the city is also home to DePauw University. There's not much else that can be said about this mural as it's simple yet colorful and well-maintained. Putnam County hasn't caught on to the public art scene as much as some other communities, though this six installation trail is fun to experience and definitely worth checking out if in the area. I would not consider Read.Think.Create! a destination public art piece, however, if you're in Greencastle it's worth checking out the library and its art work. While this mural was the first of the six to be envisioned, it was actually completed after the nearby "Greencastle Blossoms." This is free to check out during library hours.