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

Just passing through before I get to Indianapolis. Heading to Philly after we leave here. This town…read moreis small and service oriented. Walmart is the go to store, almost pizza is served and liquor and beer prices are just as expensive as gas in 2022! As you are traveling on Hwy 41 (the highway that drives through the entire city) you will notice that stop lights dominate the flow of traffic. It is a quiet town... most business close around 6pm. Almost fine dining closes shortly after sundown... this place reminds me of a place where you will get a good education, go to church and become a rock scientist! It seems like this place is where people come for school or retirement. We came here for a college graduation - now that this is over, and I am not in retirement yet... I guess it is time to go back to Atlanta GA

I love Terre Haute. The parks are wonderful and so well cared for. The school system is one to be…read moreproud of. Especially after having to move away and experience what it's like to NOT have Vigo County Schools, you really appreciate what a good school system really is. Ohio Blvd is my favorite city street and the historic neighborhoods are fun to drive through. Even the city cemetery, Highland Lawn, is a beautiful place to drive, bike or walk. The police department and Sheriff's department are both dedicated to keeping Terre Haute safe. I have lived on the southern coast for many years, but I am moving back home as soon as I retire where I can enjoy four seasons again. Autumn and Halloween are magical there, sledding down Deming Park hill in the winter is special too. What's not to love? You have to live away to know what you're missing.

A little distant from the town of Casey but it's still one of those "Largest Things" that you need…read moreto see if you're in the area. This is the World's Largest Horseshoe and yes, it's large. You can see that here as I parked next to it for scale. The claim to fame as world's largest became official in 2013, when this 1,144-pound cast iron horseshoe was verified by Guinness World Records. Then in 2015 it was surpassed by a slightly larger horseshoe in Kentucky that weighed half as much. So I wouldn't say that you need to go out of your way, unless you're interested in the world's largest things. Or perhaps you're already here for the Martinsville Agricultirual Fair. [Review 19672 overall - 127 in Illinois - 644 of 2023.]

Cunningham Memorial Library is one of my favorite locations on campus. My first visit was in 1985,…read morea nostalgic imprint that remains with me to this day. There are lots of stacks and study spots, even a cafe in the entryway. I didn't spend nearly enough time here as a student, but I still appreciate this concrete behemoth! The card catalogue is gone but plenty of old school history remains in the stacks and the archives. My visit on this day was for historical research on student organizations and ISU presidential papers. The special collections team were most helpful in identifying relevant holdings and giving me access to review documents related to my topic. Advance notice is needed due to storage location of the archives. Legacy materials are held in a different location on campus, thus staff need time for document retrieval.

I am an author. My name is Linda Bates. One of my book is a fiction book called Alisa's New Life…read more It is about a young girl, her three younger brothers, and one older sister. They encounter a change when their alcoholic father Walt Preston has a wreck and is arrested. When her mother dies they are adoped by a local teacher in the town of Terre Haute, Indiana. Alisa, Gilbert Goodnill and Jason Johnson spend the next few years in one adventure after another, dates,, proms, and hanging out. Alisa keeps a journal of her new adventures, and writes her feelings and of her events to her mother while over coming the grief she holds within of her mothers passing. I am in the process of publishing another fiction book called 'Nick Bradford's Ghostly Clients. He is a ghost helper in a small town in the midwest, helping ghost to cross over. He and his good buddy Jerome encounter many adventures. His neighbor Elda Ramon is also a ghost helper. Nick encounters adventures of 13 ghosts that during the story approach him desperatel for help. Nick is a 17 year old boy in his senior year of school. Elda takes him under her wing and teaches him all she knows about helping ghost to cross over. Nick and his girlfriend Clarissa become close and introduce Jerome to a wonderful girl. The four teens bond through the vast ghostly adventures.

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

Romanesque-Revival style, the Edgar County Courthouse looks like a fancy wedding cake. It was…read moredesigned by architect Henry Eliot of Chicago and was constructed from 1891 to 1893. At the top is a galvanized steel and zinc sheet metal-clad, tiered bell and clock tower topped with a copper dome. The tower and dome are topped by a "Lady Justice" statue. The courthouse's exterior has four main sides and four entrances situated between each adjacent pair of sides. Each side includes two towers at each end and a central section with a tall gable. It's a stunning structure located at the center of Paris. Don't miss out on this and if you're able to do a tour, please do! [Review 1288 of 2024 - 215 in Illinois - 22311 overall]

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.

We had a bit of trouble finding Big Rocky Fork Covered Bridge, but eventually we did. The bridge…read morehas been bypassed by a newer bridge that stands parallel. We found parking at one end of the bridge and walked through tall grass to the single Burr Arch truss span bridge. The 72' bridge was built by the prolific bridge builder, J. J. Daniels, in 1900. The single lane bridge served until 1987, but still stands proud at 126 years old. The inside is spattered with a bit of graffiti that has been covered with white paint. Outside, the boards show some rotting around the bottom. I was surprised at the good condition of the floor boards. She needs a little love, perhaps the Covered Bridge Festival will pick up donations for the repairs.

Bypassed in 1987, this Single Span Burr Arch Truss was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1900 to carry…read moreGreencastle Road (County Road 720) over Big Rocky Creek. Access is easy and fully paved; the bridge sits about two miles east of US59 outside Mansfield. One of nine covered bridges that Daniels put up in Parke County, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978; it is #6 on the Parke County Covered Bridge Map.