Allen County, Indiana Bridges

Allen County has dozens of bridges over the three rivers and various county roads over creeks and streams. However there is the Allen County government and Fort Wayne government with legal jurisdiction over their bridges. So there are separate pages for each jurisdiction.

The First Iron Bridge

1907 - The First Thing In Fort Wayne - The First Iron Bridge

Article from Apr 17, 1907 Fort Wayne Daily News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1907, First things in fort wayne, First iron bridge

1907 - The First Thing In Fort Wayne - The First Iron Bridge Fort Wayne Daily News, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Wedesday, April 17, 1907, Page 4.

The First Things - IN - Fort Wayne

The First Iron Bridge

In the autumn of 1859 the first iron bridge to be erected in this locality was built locally it was over the St. Marys river at the foot of Wells street, Bloomingdale, and cost $3,200. In 1860 while a large herd of cattle was being driven across the bridge collapsed precipitating the cattle and a number of pedestrians into the river. About twenty head of cattle were drowned. It was rebuilt by Mosley & Co., of Cincinnati.

The News would like to see a 150-word contribution on "The First Clothing Store in Fort Wayne.")

[ See The First Things In Fort Wayne page ]

  1. NIRCC ANNUAL LISTING OF OBLIGATED PROJECTS (ALOP) FOR FY 2023 PROJECTS eight pages
  2. Bridge Inspections: Allen County, Indiana at The IndyStar appears to be every bridge over the three rivers and creeks.
  3. Former historic covered bridges: Aqueduct over St. Marys River, Broadway over St. Marys River, and Leo over St. Joseph River from page 6 Series 6: Indiana Covered Bridge Visual Materials from Collection # M0836 OM0476 COVERED TIMBER BRIDGE COMMITTEE COLLECTION, 1930–1979 Collection Information, Historical Sketch, Processed by Laurie Randall, Janet Schmidt, and Dorothy A. Nicholson, October 2009, Manuscript and Visual Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society,450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269.
  4. c1875 New Haven Covered Bridge

    Postcard photo of New Haven Bridge, Allen County, IN Built c1875 on Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges Covered Spans of Yesteryear.

    1. 2024 screenshot Allen County Covered Bridges
      Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges Covered Spans of Yesteryear lists sixteen covered bridges in Allen County, Indiana
    2. Covered Bridges in Indiana Focus on Local History, Number 16, Order number 8503, © Indiana Historical Bureau, Originally published as a part of Indiana History Bulletin Volume 69, Number 1, March 1998
    3. The Covered Bridges of Indiana A quest to walk and photograph all the 92 remaining covered bridges in Indiana, USA WordPress blog.
    4. Indiana Covered Bridges List Dale Travis – Jan 9, 2024
    5. List of covered bridges in Indiana on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
  5. Historic Bridges Inventory Summary & Results Indiana Department of Transportation
  6. SHAARD & IHBBC Map: Finding Historic Structures in Your APE 37 page document Indiana Department of Natural Resources
  7. SHAARD Historic Structures

    SHAARD Structural Surveys has information on historic structures

IDNR Historic Bridges

IDNR Historic Bridges IndianaMap GIO IndianaMap.

SHAARD post by the INDNR

May 5, 2023 post by Indiana Department of Natural Resources  on Facebook:

MAY IS HISTORIC PRESERVATION MONTH: The Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD) allows users to search for information on known historic resources throughout Indiana. SHAARD includes data from the County Survey Program (Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory), the Indiana Cemetery and Burial Grounds Registry, Indiana Historic Bridge Inventory, properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures, and a Historic Theater inventory [Indiana members].

DNR Indiana Buildings, Bridges, and Cemeteries Map SHAARD

Click on the points on the Indiana Historic Buildings, Bridges and Cemeteries map GIS map of SHAARD data.

To learn more about @INDIANA Indiana Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology, SHAARD, and the IHBBC Map, visit http://dnr.IN.gov/.../national-and-state.../shaard-database

  1. Tuesday, January 14, 2025 post by Historic Bridge Foundation on Facebook:

    BridgeHunter.com Phase 1 is now released to the public! This initial release provides basic bridge browsing capabilities, allowing visitors to explore and enjoy the rich catalog of historic bridges. While the site is currently read-only, future updates will focus on bringing back advanced search tools and the ability for users to log in, submit photos, and update bridge pages. What you see today is not the final product, we have these improvements coming! The task of modernizing this enormous database of bridges has been a challenge, and we are still working through some glitches and errors. We are currently aware that a significant number of bridges are not showing the maps and coordinates correctly, and some of the bridge dimensions are not showing correctly. Please bear with us as we work to resolve these database issues.

    Allen County search on Bridgehunter.com lists 102 bridges.

  2. Allen County, Indiana and Bridges of Fort Wayne, Indiana on BridgeReports.com National Bridge Inventory appears to be the most complete list including bridges over ditches and creeks using National Bridge Inventory data as early as 1883.
  3. Bridges at Fort Wayne Public Works includes a map at City of Fort Wayne.
  4. Historic Bridges: Allen County, Indiana shows 22 bridges on historicbridges.org
  5. Covered Bridges and the Birth of American Engineering by Historic American Engineering Record National Park Service Washington, D.C. 2015. Posted June 7, 2022 by Heritage Documentation Programs, NPS on Facebook.
  6. Norfolk & Western RR (now Norfolk Southern) crossing the St. Marys River adjacent to the Main Street Bridge in 1954 photo shown and discussed March 18, 2025 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
  7. Scipio Road Bridge has a Facebook page. Over 50 comments January 23, 2023 and over 100 comments to photos posted January 26, 2025 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

  8. Spy Run Bridge

    Spy Run Bridge

    Photos and discussion March 3, 2025 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

    Thanks to postings, photos and contributions from local historians Bobbie Lee, Becky Osbun and Sean O'Brien, I was able to track down sandstone abutment remains from the Old Spy Run Bridge. The Spy Run Bridge was a Whipple through truss design, similar to the Wells Street Bridge. It was constructed in 1888 and dismantled in 1958 when it was replaced by the concrete Lafayette Street Bridge (recently rededicated as the Veterans Memorial Bridge). Though it's a mostly forgotten piece of Fort Wayne history, those 137 year stones supported many years of commerce and transportation in the city.

    Photos of bridges from Goshen Road to Fourth Street March 22, 2025on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook

  9. Stellhorn Bridge

    Thursday, August 13, 2020 post by ARCH, Inc. on Facebook:

    The old Stellhorn Bridge is our topic for Today’s Throwback Thursday. The c. 1885 bridge was built by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio. It was located on Lower Huntington Road and crossed the St. Marys River. During Prohibition, two federal agents were killed in a gun battle near this bridge. (Photo Courtesy of the Allen County Public Library Community Album)

Back to top

Page updated: