Potawatomi Park Bridge

Information and Findings From DHPA Historic Bridge Survey

Statement of Significance

Gangloff-Sayler Farm Bridge, Hoover Slough Bridge (Possible historic name) Rezner Bowstring (1871 - 19xx) In April 1871, the Jasper county commissioners sought proposals for two more iron superstructures on "solid stone abutments." Both sites were on the Rensselaer and Remington Road - one at 60-feet over Big Slough at Alfred Hoover's and the other at 50-feet over Carpenter Creek at "Lipprant's crossing" about half a mile north of Remington, each to be 12- or 14-feet wide. William Rezner apparently came to Rensselaer in June to present the commissioners with the Ohio Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Cleveland's proposal. Theirs was the lowest and subsequently the successful bid for these bridge superstructures. William Hartshorn of Grant county won the contract for the two sets of stone abutments. The commissioners accepted both sets of abutments by late August, and Hartshorn received $2,309 for his stone work. In early September, the commissioners also accepted the two superstructures and paid the Ohio Wrought Iron Bridge Company $1,636.47 for the spans. Pratt Pony Truss (19xx - 19xx) The Indiana State Highway Commission sent a team to survey the bridges on the Rensselear-Remington Road in January 1928, including the two crossings discussed here. The state had incorporated this section of Jasper County roadway with its structures into State Route #53. In neither case did the state surveyors find a bowstring in place or located within one or two miles up or down stream or ditch from the relevant state highway crossing. The Carpenter Creek bowstring (S19-24/T27N/R6-7W) had been replaced by a 49-foot pinned Pratt pony-truss superstructure, in this case seated on the original bowstring's stone abutments. This would, indeed, confirm the county's recorded specifications for a 50-foot long bowstring there. Carpenter Creek had not been dredged. The replacement superstructure over Carpenter's Creek carried rectangular built-up girder floor-beams, more typical of late 19th- than of 20th-century design, but the 18-foot wide roadway points to the 20th century for Jasper County bridge design and construction.

Other Information

References James L. Cooper, "Potawatomi Park's Enduring Monument" (2013). Rezner Bowstring (1871 - 19xx) Jasper County, "Commissioners Record," 4: 37, 53, 57-58, 61, 67, 69, 77, 84, 86-89, 127. "Proceedings in Commissioners Court," The Rensselaer Union, 15 June 1871, p3 c5. Pratt Pony Truss (19xx - 19xx) Indiana State Highway Commission, "Bridge #202" survey book (1928), 59-79 (housed in the Records Division, INDOT, Indianapolis).

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes