Other than the teensy Foster Branch, I’m unaware of any fords, creeks, or rivers on Fall Creek Road between County Road 750-West and State Road 38 in Madison County. That’s what makes a lonely truss bridge plopped down in a field nearby so unexpected! Google Earth says it’s been sitting there since at least 2008. What’s the deal?
Unfortunately, I wish I could say. I haven’t found out much about this landlocked bridge. It’s a wrought-iron Pratt through-truss, according to BridgeHunter, built in 1884 by the Massillon Bridge Company1. The crossing spans 99.7 feet with a deck width of 15.7 feet and a vertical clearance of 15.32.
I’ve seen pictures of it over a body of water on the way to the nearby Pendleton Correctional Facility, and I believe it crossed Fall Creek on a service road northwest of the prison. For now, it sits on dry land, apparently awaiting reuse3.
Mysteries like this bridge are part of what makes exploring East-Central Indiana so rewarding. For most, the bridge’s original location is long forgotten, and its story remains only half-told. Until its next chapter is written, this lonely truss bridge stands as both a question mark and a monument.
Sources Cited
1 Fall Creek Service Road Bridge (n.d.). BridgeHunter. Web. Retriebed August 26, 2025.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 (See footnote 1).
So, if a bridge doesn’t actually bridge anything, can we really call it a bridge? Questions like this occupy far too much of my mind.
I’ve been pondering this for two days and still don’t have an answer.