Oakalla Covered Bridge

The Oakalla Covered Bridge is a historic covered truss over Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana.

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The Oakalla Covered Bridge is a historic covered Burr arch truss that carries County Route 375 West over Big Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana.

The bridge takes its name from Oakalla Station, a former stop along the Big Four Railroad. ² During the mid-nineteenth century, this area of Madison Township was a center of limestone quarrying and lime production, with numerous kilns and quarries operating near Big Walnut Creek. A railroad station on the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad bordered the south side of the creek, and roads from the north led into Greencastle. Travel between the station, quarries, kilns, and surrounding farms required a dependable crossing at this location, indicating that a bridge predating the present structure likely existed.

The Oakalla Covered Bridge was constructed in 1898 by Joseph J. Daniels. ^{1 2} Daniels was born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1826 and began his career working for his father, who served as an agent for Thomas Long, inventor of the Long truss. ² He built his first bridge in Parke County in 1851 before becoming a construction engineer for the Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad, where he oversaw the construction of several covered railroad bridges. After leaving the railroad, Daniels settled in Rockville, Indiana, and established his own bridge-building business, where he most often employed the Burr arch truss.

The bridge is a covered Burr arch truss composed of a heavy oak timber frame constructed from sawn lumber, with the Burr arches spliced together. ² Indiana bridge builders frequently favored the Burr arch truss because it combined king-post trusses with a stiffening double wooden arch, producing a strong and durable structure well suited to local materials and construction practices.

The Burr arch design was invented by Theodore Burr, an engineer from Connecticut, who patented the system on April 4, 1817. ² In this configuration, the arch and kingpost trusses function together to provide rigidity and distribute loads efficiently across the span.

The bridge’s importance diminished relatively soon after its construction. ² By the time the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad was completed, stone quarries owned by the Joseph D. Torr family had largely closed. The village of Oakalla, established around 1872 near the bridge, declined rapidly and had largely disappeared by 1903.

In 1932, a minor collector road southeast of Oakalla and the bridge was scheduled for improvement. ² By 1940, the route—now Putnam County Road 200 West, connecting Greencastle and Manhattan—had been improved, although it never became part of the state highway system. These improvements reduced traffic over the Oakalla Covered Bridge and further diminished its functional role in the local transportation network.

The Oakalla Covered Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in November 2022. ²

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Details

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Sources

1. “Oakalla Covered Bridge.” Putnam County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
2. Garner, Kurt West. “Oakalla Covered Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service, 1 Feb. 2023.