Cy Schaadt

 

Dylan Pierce  N9EGT Grandson                             John August

 

 

  The Adams County Amateur Radio Club will have a brief Field Day demonstration on Saturday, June 28th, at the Covered-Bridge Park (Co. Rd W 950 S -- 2 miles NE of Geneva) just north of Ceylon, IN. Shortwave and VHF stations will be operating in making radio contacts in various parts of the USA. Fellow hams and the general public are encouraged to join in this event beginning at 1 PM and continuing until 4 PM.

Wayne Steury, the assistant R.A.C.E.S. coordinator for the county will be directing the event. Radio contacts and messages will be sent through various modes including CW (Morse code), Digital communications (PSK31) and Voice transmissions. Antennas will be assembled in emergency type style with wire dipoles and various configurations. Call Wayne at 260-589-8933 or write waynesteury@earthlink.net.

 

The Ceylon Covered Bridge is located in Congressional Township 25 North, Sections 21 & 16, and Range 14 East two miles northeast of Geneva on County Road West 950 South, Adams County (latitude: 40°36'51.36"N; longitude 84°56'34.42"W). Originally crossing the Wabash River, over time the river shifted leaving the structure straddling a back channel. Of the 23 known covered bridges to have once traversed this important river this is the last still standing.

Most likely built by the Smith Brothers Company, this single span Howe Truss structure is 126 feet long, or 140 feet including the 7-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance that is 16 feet wide and 13 feet high. Commonly thought to have been built in 1860, there are conflicting opinions regarding actual construction of this structure with references found denoting 1862 or, according to Jim Cooper, as late as 1879 .

Bypassed it in 1974 and now surrounded by a roadside park, additional structural supports were added to the lower chord at some earlier date most likely in an attempt to increase the load capacity when the structure was in daily use. Currently there are significant local efforts to undertake a full restoration project of this structure to ensure its preservation and in 2006 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The common numerical identifier for the Ceylon Covered Bridge is 14-01-02; however, it was early given the alpha identifier "kr" by the 1938 Covered Timber Bridge Commission.