Medora Covered Bridge, Medora Indiana

Date added: January 08, 2024 Categories: Indiana Covered Bridges Burr Arch Multiple Kingpost Truss

Medora Covered Bridge at 460', is the longest surviving historic wooden covered bridge in the United States, and is representative of the work of master builder J.J. Daniels of Parke County, Indiana. It is unique in its use of metal components and a combination of kingpost and Burr arch building technologies. It connected the western third of Jackson County to its market towns and railroad towns of Vallonia, Brownstown (county seat), and Seymour. The bridge continued to serve its purpose well into the twentieth century, until it was bypassed in 1970. The bridge also handled traffic for major U.S. and State Routes in its years of active service.

Medora Bridge is representative of the early nineteenth-century patented bridge models, which were designed, fabricated, and constructed by local skilled craftsmen, which contributed to the transportation infrastructure and development of this country. The structural significance of the Medora Covered Bridge is the triple double arches lying inside and outside the truss plane enclosing a multiple kingpost truss, commonly identified as an improved Burr arch truss. It contains perfectly symmetrical arches, fish claw joints with the metal strapping in the lower chord, metal plates that separate the arch from the stone skewback at the abutments and piers, all signature features of a J. J. Daniels covered bridge. It is a representative example of the Waterford patented Burr arch truss by Theodore Burr of 1817. The Burr Arch Bridge consisted of two separate parts; the main member was a flat truss with parallel top and bottom chords and either single or double timber arch ribs, one on each side of the roadway, either outside or inside the truss plane.

The multiple kingpost truss system was reinvented by nineteenth-century American bridge builders but was originally created in the Western world during the fifteenth-century work of Palladio. German bridge builders utilized the covered truss system in the sixteenth century. Timothy Palmer an early American bridge builder introduced the first enclosed or covered bridge to America at the insistence of the bridge company president, Judge Richard Peters in 1805 which spanned the Schuylkill River West of Philadelphia.

The following year, Theodore Burr patented a multiple kingpost truss with an attached arch, which rested below the bridge deck on the abutments. Burr's bridge-building career began in Chenango County, New York where he resided as a millwright and bridge builder in the town of Oxford, New York. He removed to Northumberland, Pennsylvania before the War of 1812, at the forks of the Susquehanna River where he continued perfecting and patenting bridges until his death in 1822 at Middletown, Pennsylvania. An additional bridge patent was issued in 1817 from Burr Haven, Pennsylvania for the "Waterford bridge type" which was widely adopted by many nineteenth-century bridge carpenters. This "Waterford" type Burr arch truss had a level roadway whereas the earlier design had an arched roadway and arched upper chord. The patented Burr Arch Truss design was widely utilized by later nineteenth bridge carpenters after Theodore Burr's 1822 death, due to knowledgeable wood craftsmen trained in shipbuilding and barn construction and the availability of native materials. Local carpenters could readily duplicate the Burr form. It spread widely due to heavily forested areas of the West; today's Midwest.

The arch covered bridge had migrated to Indiana by the 1820s. Covered bridges were built earlier than the documented National Road bridges in southern Indiana. Jesse L. Williams, Indiana's first chief engineer specified the double multiple kingpost truss and arch system for all of Indiana's roadways after 1838. Thus, Williams' recommendation influenced generations of Indiana bridge builders in the adoption of the multiple kingpost and arch system. Often, bridges were constructed to be covered later when funds became available for such improvement and protection of the investment, thus one will never know when the first enclosed structures were built.

As the Burr design moved westward, native white pine for the upper chords and arches were frequently replaced with yellow poplar by local craftsmen and bridge contractors which was more readily available, durable, and as easily handled as pine. The Burr Arch Truss system had been well tested upon Indiana's White River as well as Daniels's experience at spanning wide waterways, by the time the Medora Bridge was constructed. He had bridged the Wabash River, the western boundary of Indiana with a seven-span bridge at Vincennes; his documented longest Indiana bridge, as well as twice spanning the East Fork of White River for the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad with a four-span railroad bridge. Nearing completion in 1853, the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad Bridge at Hazelton was promoted as "something never done in this State heretofore a bridge of this dimension put up in workmanlike style in such a short time." It had served the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad that carried heavier loads than nineteenth-century agricultural wagons. The typical nineteenth-century farm wagon holds about 360 pounds of ear corn. A standard pickup bed of today holds the same amount.

Oral history of an earlier time indicates the placement of horizontal bridge siding allowed for the lowest horizontal siding to be removed during floods to save the bridge's superstructure, allowing the water to flow across the roadway. Daniels deviated from the earlier nineteenth-century bridge carpenters as his bridge structures were built above the high water mark. He specified vertical siding in all examined contracts except the Jackson Bridge, which has horizontal siding. Clearly, Daniels was more comfortable in utilizing the arch design of Burr's than Long's more scientific bridge patent. It appears that other than the Rising Sun Bridge; Daniels built no other "Long" patented bridge in Indiana. Perhaps, it was due to the patent license fee, the state specifications issued by Chief Engineer of Indiana, or Daniel's lack of knowledge of Indiana waterways during floods.

Bridge contractor Joseph J. Daniels built modified Burr Arch Trusses without laminated arch components as designed by Theodore Burr. Daniels' bridges included limited amounts of ironwork utilized for lateral stability as well as connecting the arch to the multiple kingpost trusses. Economically conscious, Daniels laid his floors longitudinally as opposed to crosswise placement reducing subsequent floor repair due to shod horses as the horseshoes cut into floor timbers. Crosswise floor placement required the removal of the entire board for the deck length whereas; lengthwise placement required the removal on only the worn floorboards where the horse trod. Lengthwise placement gave a quieter as well as smoother ride across the bridge.

Medora Covered Bridge served local, state, and federal highway transportation routes from 1875 until bypassed in 1970. The White River diagonally cuts through Jackson County separating the western third of the county that includes Carr Township from the major communities of Jackson County. The original settlement of Jackson County was between the Muscatatuck River to the South and the White River to the West. Both rivers prohibit vehicular travel, flooding area roads. Jackson County entered the state of Indiana a year before statehood. West Lee Wright was a large Carr township landowner and provided the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad with a portion of the needed acreage for the rail line through Carr Township in 1853 creating the town of Medora in the process. The rail line opened in 1857 to St. Louis.

Jim McMahan, one of three ferry operators in Carr Township petitioned the Commissioners for the Vallonia and Medora gravel road. The Medora Covered Bridge was located one-half mile upstream from the McMahan ferry crossing. Daniel Peck Hinderlider, landowner and township trustee proposed and organized the Medora Bridge Company to locate a bridge in Carr Township near McMahan's ferry in May 1874 across White River. This county bridge served as the only major bridge connection across White River linking this township with the remaining sections of Jackson County until the late nineteenth century. Travel was limited to foot, horse, or wagon transportation over very poor roadways and flooded roadways. While rail transportation was available, only the wealthy landowners seemed to have availed themselves of the opportunity.

The bridge was let on November 2^nd, 1874, with the approaches, and abutment soils delivered to the bridge site by the bridge company for spring construction to be finished by September 1^st, 1875. The Jackson County Commissioners received the Medora Covered Bridge July 15^th, 1875. It was the first free bridge across White River although the Jackson County Commissioners had purchased four earlier county toll bridges across White River by 1874. The Medora covered bridge remained toll-free. Other county bridges existed over other smaller waterways since 1817; however, due to the economics of the time, enabling legislation, and the financial state of county government the citizens formed their own bridge companies to upgrade the infrastructure of the county for the larger county bridges. Only twenty-seven Carr Township citizens paid taxes in 1870, not enough to generate the required tax revenue for a bridge of 460 feet. The Indiana State Legislature in 1874 altered bridge law that made county government responsible for county bridges, before local townships had been responsible for building such structures, which had necessitated the formation of bridge companies to erect major infrastructure improvements.

The Medora Covered Bridge was the Daniels' second covered bridge over East Fork of White River in Jackson County. Locally, it was one of three identified bridge structures built in Jackson County by Joseph J. Daniels over White River. The Jackson County Commissioners in 1970 destroyed the first Daniels' bridge. The Ewing Bridge was an identified Indiana Covered Bridge fabricated and built by the Daniels' brothers; Joseph and Stephen. Their father, Stephen Daniels, Sr. a carpenter from New York relocated to Marietta, Ohio pursuing bridge carpentry for both highways and railroads after 1820 becoming an agent for the "Long Trusses" patented by Stephen H. Long. Three of Stephen Daniels' sons, Joseph, Stephen, and William D. Daniels pursued the occupation of bridge mason and bridge carpenter. Joseph J. Daniels and William D. Daniels pursued their bridge carpentry in Indiana after their father's death. Joseph followed his father's occupation and had built several "Long" truss bridges in Ohio for turnpikes and the Little Miami Railroad before building his first "Long" truss bridge in Indiana for the Rising Sun & Aurora Turnpike in 1850. By his father's death (1853), Joseph J. Daniels was constructing a four multi-span Burr arch bridge over White River Bridge at Hazelton, Indiana for the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad in Southwest Indiana.

Daniels did follow Stephen H. Long's design form for his covered bridge piers and abutments as Long detailed in his published paper on bridge construction, particularly following Long's recommendation on the width of the stonework. Subsequently, Mr. Daniels became superintendent for the E & C railroad. Leaving the railroad, Daniels became a "flour miller and whiskey distiller in Gibson County after August 1857" until a disastrous fire. He relocated to Rockville in 1861 after the fire and continued as a successful bridge contractor ending his bridge-contracting career in 1904 with the Neet Bridge. Some documentation, unsubstantiated at present indicates that Joseph J. Daniels may have resumed his bridge building in cooperation with his brothers, Stephen H. Daniels and William D. Daniels for a time.

The residents of Carr Township proposed building a bridge across the river as early as 1870 but they were not as politically astute or financially able as other county residents were. The newly-organized 1917 Indiana Highway Commission designated a roadway from Evansville, Indiana to Aurora, Indiana as a main market route identified as route four for Indiana. This route passed over the Medora Covered Bridge, as did the market route five which began at Vincennes, Indiana, and intersected with route four at Mitchell, Indiana which connected Vincennes with Aurora, Indiana.

The trustees of Carr and Driftwood Township had been responsible for repairs for the Medora Covered Bridge after its construction, until the Indiana Highway Commission took over the market route 4 on April 1^st, 1920. Township records have not revealed specific bridge expenses for the Medora Covered Bridge other than general maintenance in 1905 for painting and repairing the structure; at this time funded by the Jackson County Commissioners. Subsequently, in 1926, the Medora Covered Bridge served as a transportation structure for U.S. 50 that ran from Washington, D.C. to Ely, Nebraska. In 1950, U.S. 50 was relocated upriver in Jackson County under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Highway Commission. The bridge structure continued to serve the Indiana Department of Highway as a transportation structure as a part of State Road 235 from 1950 to 1975, returning full circle to Jackson County in 1975.

Completed and opened for travel on July 15^th, 1875, the citizens had celebrated the construction of their new bridge during their Fourth of July celebration at the bridge site. While the new concrete bridge was under construction in the 1970s one of the last loads that crossed the Medora Covered Bridge was a 70 ton load of steel. The driver lost his job for this delivery. Additionally, fully loaded grain and fertilizer semi-trailers made trips across this bridge in the 20^th Century. Thus, it survived modern transportation abuse despite the early nineteenth-century Burr arch bridge patented by an American mechanic, a tribute to a nineteenth-century master bridge contractor, J. J. Daniels, and his knowledge of timber as well as his masonry skills.

Other identified long bridge structures built by Daniels not previously mentioned was a Wabash Railroad bridge for Danville and Indianapolis Railroad, the Freedom Bridge, the Tunnelton Bridge and the Stumphole Bridge. These bridges no longer exist.

Aside from the above bridges, Daniels' longest Indiana single span is the Jackson Bridge at Rockville.

Bridge Description

The Medora Covered Bridge is located over the East Fork of White River in south-central Indiana. The western half of the bridge lies in Carr Township, Jackson County, and one mile southeast of the town of Medora, Indiana. The eastern half of the bridge is located in Driftwood Township, Jackson County four miles southwest of Vallonia, Indiana and eight and three-tenths miles southwest of Brownstown, Indiana, Jackson County's county seat. The White River is the legal boundary between Carr Township and Driftwood Township. The bridge is located in an agricultural area with the property, including approaches, abutments, and piers, being less than a quarter of an acre. Downstream adjacent to the Medora Covered Bridge is a 1970-72 concrete/steel deck bridge maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation. Upstream on the West side of the White River is a boat ramp site with paved road, parking and river access to White River maintained by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Daniels utilized three 140-foot spans, totaling 460' for the Medora Bridge. Research indicates that Mr. Daniels utilized this span length for his earlier Burr arch Hazelton Railroad Bridge. He omitted the counter panel bracing featured in the patented Burr Arch Truss as well as the Long truss as did later bridge carpenters. His panel bracing was carefully executed and fitted into the kingposts.

The substructure of the Medora Covered Bridge features locally quarried "Oolitic limestone from the Dixon quarry" at Fort Ritner; Southwest of Medora; fully mortared with 1/3 Louisville cement and 2/3-course sand. Each pier sits upon a double oak piling twelve inches thick, submerged three feet below low water level into the bed of White River. The lower tier of piling is ten feet by thirty feet in length and is placed crosswise to the river flow. The upper tier of piling is twelve inches by ten feet according to the contract and design. It is placed with the current of the river. The masonry piers include cutwaters to high water mark on the upriver side. Each pier was riprapped with rubble rock of at least 50 cubic yards of material. Twenty feet from the masonry base skewbacks were placed in the piers and abutments to accept the arch ends. The skewbacks are at an angle into the masonry. The abutments are two feet below the surface of the ground with the base at fifteen feet by twenty-one feet.

The wings extended back at right angles with the face of the abutment and batter the same as the pier, fifteen feet and ten feet from the back. The wings run above the bridge seat four feet and finish with a neatly cut coping. In 1883, the west abutment was compromised due to flooding and a ditch was created to cope with the problem. The following the year the ditch was completely filled with silt. The bridge piers are seven feet by twenty-two feet with additional stone around the base. The piers include cutwaters on the upstream bridge side. The abutments rise twenty-five feet to raise the bridge six feet above high water mark. According to the state geologist's report of 1875, "Daniels utilized the Fort Ritner stone for all his Jackson County bridge construction."

The superstructure is primarily wood with supporting elements of wrought iron rods, bolts and nuts, representative of a later 19th-century wooden enclosed bridge structure. The Medora Covered Bridge is a rectangular parallel chord; triple multi-span improved double Burr arch truss covered bridge. There are fourteen panels per span encased in double concentric arches, which lie slightly below the top truss chord ending below the lower chord, resting on stone abutments and stone piers. Overall, bridge span is 460 feet, while the Burr Arches span 458 feet. Each span length is one hundred forty feet and ten inches. An overhang of fourteen feet ten inches protects each portal.

The overall horizontal deck width is sixteen feet clear of ports. Overall, the oak deck length is four hundred thirty-three and fifty-three feet laid longitudinally. Vertical clearance is thirteen feet from the floor to the overhead lateral bracing. The truss height is seventeen feet. Wrought iron pins join the wooden timber members, supposedly locally handmade. The upper chord timber is poplar. The truss consists of a series of vertical oak kingposts and poplar directional braces that meet at mid-span as an isosceles triangle which shares an oak center post at mid-span. The poplar arches were attached to the truss with iron bolts after the truss chords settled. Lower chord lateral braces of wrought iron pass through all arches as well as the lower chord at the first panel and the end panel of each span. Each arch poplar member crosses two panels of the truss with the arch ends resting in cast iron shoes at the abutments and piers. All lateral timbers both upper and lower are poplar. Metal wrought iron rods are in the top and bottom lateral bracing to hold the top chord and bottom chords in alignment. These wrought iron rods pass through the vertical kingposts at each panel section.

At the lower chord, other bridge engineers added metal connections around the kingposts to keep the wooden kingposts and wooden bracing together. The double lower oak chord members are joined by the use of wooden "double headed hook" joints (fish plate) carefully executed and held together with metal strapping on the joint side of the chord timbers with metal bolts which are alternated at each panel from the outside arch to the inside arch. See Design B. Each span has a single timber upper poplar chord that acts independently; while the double oak, lower chords pass over each pier joining the lower chords together to act as through truss.

The wooden truss components of the superstructure are: oak posts are eighteen feet in length; oak deck and oak lower chord timbers are 6"x12"x40 feet. Counter bracing and lateral wooden components are poplar. The yellow poplar arches are six inches by sixteen inches thick and each segment crosses two panels before it is spliced. The arches become eight inches thick at the ends and pass around the lower chord retaining the entire strength of the wood. According to the contract, the wooden siding was pine but has been repaired with yellow poplar laid vertically and stripped with three-inch yellow poplar to cover the twelve-inch wide siding board. The siding follows the arches to the piers. The siding is fourteen inches below the top chord to admit light to the interior of the bridge. However, it was known as the "darkest covered bridge in the state" according to Ketchum.' On the upriver side, an opening at the piers exists to give access to the pier for debris removal at water depth as well as manure disposal.

The inside of the bridge is finished with poplar wheel guards, which protect the outside arch and the multiple kingpost trusses.

This parallel, nineteenth-century two-lane bridge has a gabled, galvanized sheet metal roof, installed in 2007. In the years prior to this, the bridge had a shake roof. The bridge is in fair-poor condition. It received federal assistance in 1926 for refurbishing in amount of $5,000 through the Indiana Department of Highway. Further investigation has not been done regarding state repairs to the Medora Covered Bridge. One stick of the lower oak chord was replaced in the 1950s on the western span. Documentation is lacking. The West span lower lateral bracing is smaller than the adjacent bracing; thus, this could be the oral history regarding the lower chord replacement. Overhang replacement has occurred several times since 1875 to both ends of the Medora Covered Bridge. The Jackson County Park and Recreation Board altered the portals in 1976. Further maintenance was done in 1983, when the roof, siding materials and painting of the south side of the Medora Covered Bridge.

As noted, the present portal design is not original to the Medora Covered Bridge. The original design will be duplicated at the portal ends during rehabilitation. The shingles were replaced at least once through the years. A major problem of the substructure is the movement of the quarried limestone due to the deterioration of the Louisville Cement and sand mortar that is creating arch failure at the abutments. The lower chord timbers have moved from the abutment supports that is compromising west span of the bridge. Two arches are broken on the downriver side at each end of the bridge. At the first panel, the lateral bracing of the lower chord of the East span of the Medora Covered Bridge is missing as well as one-quarter of the lateral bracing at the eastern pier.

The bridge has survived the McKinley overflow, 1887, 1913, & 1917, 1927, and 1937, 2004, 2007 floods and numerous local overflows through the years. It was saved from demolition by Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb in 1970. The Indiana State Highway Commission informed the Jackson County Commissioners that the Commission was prepared to relinquish the Medora Covered Bridge September 24^th, 1975 to the Jackson County Commissioners. The Commissioners on September 24^th, 1975, approved this action. The bridge was then placed under the County's Park and Recreation's umbrella.