East Laughery Creek Road Phantom Bridge, Aurora, Indiana

Built in 1917 this single lane pony truss bridge is about 41 feet long and spans a branch of Laughery Creek on East Laughery Creek Road in Dearborn County, Indiana. I remember driving over the bridge in the late 1980s however it was bypassed by 1993 and left in place.

What is unusual and interesting about this bridge is on 3 of the four corners are decorative finials. Typically this type of decoration is found on bridges built before 1900 and almost always on through truss bridges. But for some reason, whoever built this little bridge found it important to include the finials. Simple but decorative.

At this point in time It doesn’t look like the county has any intentions of removing the bridge anytime soon so it looks like we’ll get to enjoy this piece of history a little bit longer.

GPS Location: 39º01’35.3″ N 84º53’47.9″ W