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Portland Mills Bridge

Portland Mills Covered Bridge
National Register of Historic Places
Portland Mills Covered Bridge.jpg
Portland Mills Covered Bridge
Official name: Portland Mills Covered Bridge
Named for: Portland Mills
Country  United States
State  Indiana
County Parke
Township Greene
Road C.R. E650N
Crosses Little Raccoon Creek
Coordinates 39°51′38.67″N 87°5′19.66″W / 39.8607417°N 87.0887944°W / 39.8607417; -87.0887944Coordinates: 39°51′38.67″N 87°5′19.66″W / 39.8607417°N 87.0887944°W / 39.8607417; -87.0887944
Length 146 ft (45 m) 130ft +8ft overhangs on each end
Width 16 ft (5 m)
Clearance 13 ft (4 m)
Builder Wolf, Henry
Design Double Burr Arch truss single-span bridge
Material Wood
Built 1856
 - Moved 1960-61 to present site from Greene Township
Owned and Maintained by Parke County
NBI Number 6100112
WGCB Number #14-61-21
Added to NRHP Dec 22, 1978
NRHP Ref# 78000408
MPS Parke County Covered Bridges TR
Location of the Portland Mills Bridge in Indiana
Map of USA IN.svg
Location of Indiana in the United States

The Portland Mills Covered Bridge is the second oldest covered bridge in Parke County, Indiana, being built the same year as the Crooks Covered Bridge. It is a single span Burr Arch Truss covered bridge that was built by Henry Wolf in 1856.

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

The village of Portland Mills was settled in 1821 by Samuel Steele on the Parke County-Putnam County county line. Working to clear the land for farming he later built a mill in 1825 on Big Raccoon Creek. The grain mill had a water turbine, as opposed to a water wheel, and a sawmill. The mill would go through several owners, William Butcher, Jesse Thompson, and Wesley Holman. Holman would build a new three story mill on a solid sandstone foundation and obtained modern machinery. This mill would go through several owners also. The list includes, Hirem Hocker, John Blake, Jacob Culver, James Williams, and a Mr. Williams.

While the Parke County Covered Bridge website claims the bridge started out in Union Township after looking at plat maps from 1874 it would appear that the bridge may have been in the southeast corner of Greene Township. While a clear location is lost because of the flooding of Big Raccoon Creek in 1961, it looks as if the bridge would have been very close to 39°46′44.22″N 87°0′54.43″W / 39.7789500°N 87.0151194°W / 39.7789500; -87.0151194.


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