Neet Covered Bridge Explained

Neet Covered Bridge
Official Name:Neet Covered Bridge
Other Name:Dietrich Bridge
Named For:Joseph W. Neet or Robert E. Detrich
Coordinates:39.7017°N -87.198°W
Locale:Parke, Indiana, United States
Crosses:Little Raccoon Creek
Id Type:WGCB Number
Id:14-61-18 [1]
Design:National Register of Historic Places
Length:144feet126ft +9ft overhangs on each end
Width:16feet
Height:14feet
Built:1904
Extra:
Embed:yes
Added:Dec 22, 1978
Refnum:78000405
Mpsub:Parke County Covered Bridges TR

The Neet Covered Bridge is a Burr Arch single span structure that was built by Joseph J. Daniels in 1904 over Little Raccoon Creek southwest of Rockville, Indiana.[2] [3]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

History

This was the last bridge contracted by Joseph J. Daniels, he was 78 at the time, though he may have been the builder of the Roseville-Coxville Covered Bridge built 6 years later that had been contracted by J.P. Van Fossen. He would have been 84 years old by this time.

The 1908 Atlas of Parke County doesn't show any property near the bridge being owned by anyone in the Neet family while Enoch Shrigley referred to it as the Joe Neet Bridge. Joseph W. Neet had been born in 1862 and owned 176 acres in section 33, the bridge is on the west side of section 33. George M. Neet, born in 1869, rented 20 acres north of the bridge.[4] Robert E. Detrich later owned property at the bridge through 1959 and by 1990 owned 40 acres further from the bridge which is listed as Detrich Tree Farm.

The Central Indiana Railroad crossed Little Raccoon Creek just north of the bridge.

On March 25, 1989 Rockville Boy Scout Troop 469 repainted the bridge with 4 gallons of paint. A note on the bridge credits Ted Gahimer, Bruce Girdler, Matt Garrett, and Shawn Taylor as the painters. As of 2010 the bridge and area around it were being maintained by neighbors Bob Lowdermilk and John Tilton.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bridge Information.
  2. Web site: Neet Covered Bridge . Parke County Incorporated / Parke County Convention and Visitors Commission . 2012-10-18.
  3. Web site: Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) . Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology . Searchable database. 2016-06-01. Note: This includes Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Parke County Covered Bridge Historic District. 2016-06-01. Charles Felkner. December 1977., Site map, and Accompanying photographs.
  4. Web site: indianagenweb.com.