Driving between Edwardsport and Bicknell, in Knox County, along State Road 67’s original alignment meant a lot of 90-degree turns.
Leaving Edwardsport after turning off current SR 67, the road is paved.
The road quickly turns into rough gravel. The whole car rumbled as I made my way.
Did you notice on the map above that I marked a section of the road in red? That’s because that section is sort of not there anymore. There’s still a stop sign at the north end of it, as this northbound photo shows.
Turn around and face southbound, however, and you find an earthen path. Given the two tracks down the middle, this clearly still gets driven.
But whoever drives it can’t go through, as a bridge is closed near the end of this segment.
This is the Purdy Marsh Bridge, a Pratt pony truss bridge built in 1905. I don’t know when it closed, but it received inspections through 2013. At that time, the bridge was considered to be in poor condition overall. Its deck and substructure were in serious condition, and the superstructure was in critical condition. In other words, this bridge is a basket case.
Here’s a good look at this bridge’s deck.
Hilariously, when you look past the bridge you see a Stop sign at the other end of this abandoned road segment, as well as a sign directing traffic to turn left or right.
A welcoming committee came out to greet me.
I turned back to my car to drive around to the other end of the bridge. It showed that I had been driving some gravel roads!
South from the bridge, a tiny segment of the abandoned road leads right into a T intersection. To stay on Old SR 67, turn right.
The welcoming committee came out for a more personal greeting.
From here, this is southbound original State Road 67, making its way to Bicknell.
Next: Bicknell and segments of the old road leading to Vincennes in Knox County, and the end of this trip.
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