Beeson Covered Bridge
| Beeson Covered Bridge | |
| National Register of Historic Places | |
 Beeson Covered Bridge in Billie Creek Village
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| Official name: Beeson Covered Bridge | |
| Named for: The Beeson Family | |
| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Indiana |
| County | Parke |
| Township | Adams |
| Road | Pedestrian (Not open to commercial traffic.) |
| City | Billie Creek Village |
| Crosses | William's Creek |
| Coordinates | 39°45′47.68″N 87°12′23.18″W / 39.7632444°N 87.2064389°WCoordinates: 39°45′47.68″N 87°12′23.18″W / 39.7632444°N 87.2064389°W |
| Length | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Width | 16 ft (5 m) |
| Clearance | 12.5 ft (4 m) |
| Builder | Frankfort Construction Company |
| Design | Burr arch truss bridge |
| Material | Wood |
| Built | 1906 |
| WGCB Number | #14-61-24 |
| Added to NRHP | Dec 22, 1978 |
| NRHP Ref# | 78003447 |
| MPS | Parke County Covered Bridges TR |
  Location of the Beeson Covered Bridge in Indiana
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 Location of Indiana in the United States
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The Beeson Covered Bridge is a Burr Arch covered bridge structure that was built by the Frankfort Construction Company in 1906.
The Beeson Covered Bridge originally crossed the Roaring Creek, near Marshall, Indiana in Washington Township, but due to another bridge across the county being named the Marshall Covered Bridge it was named after the nearby Beeson family. William H. Beeson, who was born in 1879 owned 53 acres of land near the bridge. It crossed Roaring Creek on C.R. 216 which doesn't exist anymore. From looking at maps of the period when the bridge was built it would have been in the vicinity of 39°51′35.88″N 87°12′8″W / 39.8599667°N 87.20222°W.
The bridge was closed in 1969 because the abutments were declared unsafe. In March 1979 a nearby concrete bridge collapsed. This, along with the earlier closing of the Beeson Bridge, caused a severe problem with access to Marshall and nearby Turkey Run High School and Turkey Run State Park. The Roaring Creek Citizens Association (RCCA) was formed to address this problem.
At 11:47 pm on August 9, 1979, just shortly after the RCCA had a meeting at Turkey Run High School, a fire was reported at the Beeson Bridge. Firefighters from Marshall fought from the south end while firefighters from Bloomingdale fought from the north end of the bridge. The fire was found to be a clear case of arson, fuel oil odors were still strong the following morning. The Parke County Sheriff's Department, Indiana State Police Department and the Indiana State Fire Marshal all were part of the investigation, owing that it is a registered national landmark the FBI probably had jurisdiction too but declined to join. Due to the fire happening so close to the RCCA meeting the RCCA threatened legal action with anyone accusing them of being connected with the fire.
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Wikipedia