Lake Waveland Underwater Phantom Bridge, Waveland, Indiana

1920s
Lake Waveland Phantom Bridge
Waveland, Indiana

I have found quite a few Phantom Bridges over the years, but this is the first phantom bridge I’ve found that is under water!

The Lake Waveland Bridge is a Warren pony truss bridge that originally spanned Demeree Creek on County Road West 950 South. Probably built in the 1920s this bridge is about 37 feet long.

But you want to know why this bridge is under water, right???? In 1970 a group under the name of The Little Raccoon Creek Conservancy District with the help of the State of Indiana and several other groups dammed up the Demeree Creek to create the 360 acre Lake Waveland. The story goes that it was cheaper to leave the bridge in place rather than to remove it, so as the level of the lake rose, it began to swallow up County Road West 950 South and the little bridge. However the water level never did cover the bridge completely and left about 2 feet of the side rails above the water line. So today we have this neat little tourist attraction that every boater on Lake Waveland knows about.

GPS Location: 39º54’12.7″N 87º05’02.6″W