Sawdon Ridge Ghost Road and Phantom Bridge, Guilford, Indiana

As you drive south on Sawdon Ridge Road in Dearborn County, Indiana, as you reach the bottom of the hill, you begin a long sweeping curve to your right as it crosses Brush Fork Creek. However, prior to 1987, this roadway looked very different.

In 1987 Sawdon Ridge Road was realigned and bypassed this concrete bridge which carried the former roadway back through the woods. The roadway went back about 100 yards and then curved to the left where this former pony truss bridge carried Sawdon Ridge Road across Brush Fork Creek and then through a field before it T-boned into Brush Fork Road at this location.

The pony truss bridge was built in 1891 and demolished in 1987 when the road was realigned. It was 50 feet long with stone bridge abutments, and a wooden deck. It was built by the Indiana Bridge Company of Muncie, Indiana. The stone abutments on the north side of the creek are still standing!

The concrete bridge, probably built in the 1920s is about 25 feet long and is in excellent condition. It sits on dry stack stone bridge abutments suggesting that there was a former bridge in this location dating back to the 1800s. Probably around 1891 when the pony truss bridge was constructed. Underneath the concrete bridge is creek rock stacked and laid on end most likely to deter erosion of the abutments.

Just a little piece of history that can still be found in Dearborn County, Indiana if you know where to look.

GPS Location: 39º11’50.5″N 84º54’25.1″W