1898,1986,2011 Indiana Avenue/Fort Wayne Street (Lincoln Highway(US-30)) Bridge over Elkhart River in Goshen, IN

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Lincoln (US-30) Highway Overview

Street View, Jun 2023

HistoricBridges
"This bridge is a through truss bridge, specifically a Pennsylvania truss bridge. It was built in 1898. This special modification of the Pratt through design features the Parker shape as well as additional members added beyond the Pratt design. This particular bridge features an a top chord that runs horizontal longer than usual, giving the bridge a somewhat unusual appearance. Connections on the bridge are pinned....This bridge was finally officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 2005, although it had been considered eligible for years prior to that"

Jennifer Woodman posted seven photos with the comment: "The Fort Wayne Street Bridge in Goshen, Indiana is a Pennsylvania through truss built in 1896 by the Bellefontaine Bridge & Iron Co. of Ohio. It's 180 ft long and 23 ft wide. The Elkhart River bends here, so the bridge was built diagonally to meet both banks at right angles. The city renamed it the Indiana Avenue Bridge around 1960, but the old name stuck around and it made the National Register of Historic Places in 2005."

Joyce Chambers: Part of the Historic 1913 Lincoln Highway story! So glad it was preserved! Thank you, Goshen!

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Sep 16, 2025, 4721 via Dennis DeBruler

Note how the Lincoln Highway originally went Northwest to Goshen and Elkhart and then went west to South Bend and the lake towns. In Illinois, the highway did another jog north to catch the towns along the Fox River and DeKalb and Rochelle. Today, US-30 has a more direct route between Fort Wayne and Chicagoland and between Chicagoland and Rock Falls. Today's US-33 follows the original Lincoln Highway route between Fort Wayne and Elkhart.

Digitally Zoomed

This is the oldest topo map that I could find, so I can't determine the original route through town that used this bridge. Note that, since this map was made, a road was built along the tracks to take US-33 traffic off of Madison and 3rd Streets.

1959/61 Goshen Quad @ 24,000