Historic Bremen

As you may know from previous posts, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has evaluated the bridge on N Center Street in Bremen as needing major repair or replacement, and there is a proposal on the table from the Marshall County Commissioners to replace it. Historic Bremen, county historian Kurt Garner, the Marshall County Historical Society, and others are trying to save the bridge. It’s a historic structure built of large stones covered in concrete built in 1901 and faced with flat stones in 1907, when Shadyside Park was being fitted out.

The Marshall County Historical Society agrees with INDOT findings indicating that the Center Street Bridge in Bremen deserves reclassification as “select”, which might warrant repairing it rather than replacing it. We are asking that consideration be given to the National Register criteria that would associate the bridge’s listing with Criterion A/Transportation guidelines. The bridge has historic significance as it was designed to link its side of the community with then newly opening industrial areas, creating both a practical but also aesthetic gateway. It was also designed to harmonize with the creation of a community park during an era significant to the rise of public parks both locally and nationally. Transportation is a key story in the overall history of Marshall County, as we sit at the crossroads of five major historic highways. The bridge is unique in terms of being a mix of materials, which fits within the larger history of public road construction at that time, as roadways were experimenting with similar materials.

Talk to the town leaders. And e-mail Haley Brinker (she’s INDOT’s historic bridge specialist) at hbrinker@indot.in.gov to say you believe the Center Street Bridge is historically significant to Bremen and you would like to see it saved!

Below is our gallery of the history of the history of the Center Street bridge.