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Photograph of Possum Bottom Covered Bridge
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Possom Bottom Covered Bridge

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

From the record

“Possum Bottom Covered Bridge, also known as the Jackson's Ford Bridge and Hillsdale Bridge, is a historic Burr Arch Truss covered bridge located in Helt Township, Vermillion County, Indiana. It was built in 1876, and is a single span covered timber bridge.”

Wikipedia article Possum Bottom Covered Bridge, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 9 National Register listings published here for Vermillion County · listed in 1994 · category: Structure.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. US 36, N side, 0.2 mi. E of the jct. with East Rd., Dana, 47847
  • When was it listed? June 1994
  • Category. structure
  • Township. Helt township
  • National Register reference number. 94000584 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

4,817 words

The chapter on Helt Township in Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana : Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with Accompanying Biographies of Each; a Condensed History of the State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of Some of the Prominent Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Vermillion County, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of the County and Its Villages, published 1888 names Dana. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Methodism in Helt Township has of course existed from the earliest pioneer period, and has always been strong and influential. The Methodist class in Dana was organized in 1879 by Rev. Daniel Morrison, of the Greencastle District, Northwest Indiana Conference. The pastors since liis time have been Revs. Elijah Johnson, J. C. McDaniels, Mr. Woods and William Smith, the present incumbent, wlio lives west of Terre Haute, although there is a parsonage at Ilelt's Prairie. There were about forty members at the time of organization, led by J. O. Rogers. Tlie present membership is about sixty, and the class-leaders, J. O. Rogers and Andrew Carmack. Sunday-school is maintained throughout tlic year, with an attendance of sixty to 100, superintended by J. O. Rogers. The liouse of worship, 30 x 50 feet, was erected in 1882, at a cost, including grounds, of $1,800.

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana : Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with Accompanying Biographies of Each; a Condensed History of the State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of Some of the Prominent Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Vermillion County, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of the County and Its Villages, published 1888.

The Toronto Presbyterian Church, at Bono, was organized many years ago, but the members are now changing their places of meeting to Dana, wlu^-e they have just completed one of the most beautiful frame church edifices in the nation. Its size is 32 x 54 feet, besides a "rostrum" 8x14 feet; its style is of course modern and of fancy finish, and the cost about |l2,800, not counting the pews and other funiture. It was dedicated June 26, 1887, by Rev. T. D. Fyfle, of Eoseville Indiana. The location is in the northern part of the village, in Samuel Aikman's addition. The leading men in building this church were "W. M. Taylor, Samuel Aikman and Samuel Hall.

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana : Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with Accompanying Biographies of Each; a Condensed History of the State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of Some of the Prominent Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Vermillion County, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of the County and Its Villages, published 1888.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Helt Township - 4,817 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Possom Bottom Covered Bridge: 2 producers, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Dee Clay PitStone, ClayProducer
Montezuma GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Dana Clay PitClayPast Producer
Montezuma Shale PlantClayPlant

Every working recorded in Vermillion County

Storms near this property

21 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dana, the town this property stands in, in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2020: 7 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 4 flash flood, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1998Tornado (F0)Dana$25,000Small weak tornado touched down briefly and destroyed a pole barn.
June 2008Flash FloodWest Dana$10,000Highway 71 in and around Dana flooded due to heavy rainfall and was under two to three feet of water. In addition to Dana area flooding there were numerous streets in Clinton flooded by Feather Creek overflowing its banks. Some evacuations were reported in Clinton.
May 1998Tornado (F0)Dana$10,000Tornado damagedseveral storage buildings and blew down numerous trees.
May 2014Thunderstorm WindDana$8,000Trees were reported down in this location due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Some minor street flooding was also noted.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindDana$5,000Several trees and power lines downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts across the central and southern portions of the county with no specific locations noted.
June 2008Flash FloodDana$2,000Flash flooding was occurring due to heavy rain. Water was going over State Road 71 through Dana as well as County Road 450 South on the east side of Dana.
June 2008Flash FloodDana$2,000County Road 500 South was washed out due to flash flooding caused by heavy rain.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindDana$1,000Power lines were downed.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindDana$1,000no account filed
June 2009FloodDana$750Flooding was observed in numerous locations on State Road 71 through Dana due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Water was reported to be over one foot deep in spots.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDana$750Tree limbs were downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts.
June 2013HailDana$250Some tree limbs were reported down as well. This report was received via Twitter.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindDana-Power outages were reported in Clinton and Dana.
June 2002HailDana-Golfball size hail reported.
May 2000HailDana-Penny size hail reported by law enforcement.
July 2008HailDana-no account filed
April 2007HailDana-no account filed
May 2004Flash FloodDana-no account filed
April 2003HailDana-no account filed
December 1998Thunderstorm WindDana-no account filed
May 1998HailDana-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Vermillion County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

5 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Elder-Pyle House2.3 miles2021
Vermillion County Jail and Sheriff's Residence4.9 miles1999
Salem Methodist Episcopal Church5.3 miles1979
Vermillion County Courthouse6.5 miles2007
Newport Covered Bridge6.6 miles1994

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 94000584 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Vermillion CountyAll 9 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.