Continuing southwest from Martinsville, another segment of the original alignment shortly diverges from current State Road 67. It’s the road directly above current 67 on this map. It makes a T intersection with County Road 300 W, following it to current SR 67.
Here’s the north end of that road northbound toward its dead end.
From the same spot, here’s the road southbound.
About a mile down this road, Old SR 67 crosses Lamb’s Creek over this fantastic bridge. I had no idea this was here when I planned this trip. The feeling of excitement and delight I get when I find gems like this is one of the major reasons I love to explore the old roads.
Built in 1893 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, OH, this is a Pratt through truss design. As I researched this bridge, I found its page at the Historic American Engineering Record and was amused to find that a long-ago photographer parked his car in about the same place as me for his similar image.
Based on damage I see in this photograph, the HAER photographer visited here before this bridge’s restoration, which was probably in the 2004-2006 timeframe based on the best information I can find.
Builder’s plates on either end are in terrific condition.
Here’s a northbound view from the bridge’s deck.
As we continued southbound, the road has all of the character of a former state highway. It’s fairly narrow, but well built, and has no shoulders.
We passed a lot of barns on this trip. We’re in a very rural part of Indiana here.
Almost immediately after this old alignment rejoins current SR 67, another old alignment peels off to the south of the current highway. I’ve marked the road as at the scale of this map, the road is hard to see.
Here’s another barn I found shortly after joining this alignment.
This gorgeous old house is also on this alignment.
While we stood there photographing this house, an old Ford truck rolled by. I captured it after it passed. This is a northbound photo.
Next SR 67 reaches the small town of Paragon. The original alignment entered town on Union Street, as the map shows, and then follows what’s now a country road out of town until it reaches current SR 67 again.
There’s not much to Paragon. It was founded in the 1850s, and has about 550 residents today. This is the town’s most prominent building.
This onetime bank is now curiously labeled as “Paragon Homecoming Office.”
After this road reaches current SR 67, the original alignment shortly turns south through Whitaker. On the ground, this road is signed Lingle Road.
I found a very narrow road here.
It’s hard to believe this was ever SR 67. If I encountered an oncoming car, one or both of us would have to put wheels on the grass to allow both cars through. A newer alignment of SR 67 must have been built here early in this road’s history.
Lingle Road passes out of Morgan County and into Owen County. We’ll pick up there next time.
Next: Rough road, an old bridge, a cemetery, and the town of Gosport.
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