While I have seen most of them many times, I was reminded how beautiful they are and what history they bring to the areas where they are found.

It wasn't very long ago that the Bridgeton Bridge was burned to the ground and an attempt was made on the Okalla. The newly built Bridgeton Bridge looks beautiful although I am always saddened by the devastating waste the burning of the bridge was.

And, while it is so heartening to know so many people rallied around the rebuilding of it, a piece of history left our midst.

At the turn of the century it was estimated that there were over 10,000 covered bridges in the U.S.

In 1980 there were only 893 covered bridges in the U.S. Six states accounted for more than three-fourths of these. The states are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Vermont, Oregon and New Hampshire.

I was at the Cataract Covered Bridge several weeks ago to cover a tourist event where folks from Ohio exclaimed over the setting for the bridge, and the reconstruction of the bridge.

It was fun to watch their faces as someone told the haunting tale of the ghost who walks across the bridge at night. It wasn't hard to imagine, as clouds were gathering and rain was beginning to spit, that at dusk the lonely wanderer would appear. Meanwhile we were all dry underneath the roof of the Cataract Covered Bridge.

I often wonder how many hundreds or thousands of people have sought refuge under the cover of the one of the many covered bridges that surround us.

My husband was once upon a time, very involved with the Indiana Covered Bridge Association. It was because of him I came to love covered bridges.

In fact, we were even married on the Bean Blossom Bridge in Brown County. Our home is filled with paintings, photographs and other covered bridge memorabilia. Even our china (from England) is a covered bridge pattern.

Yet, even surrounded at home by reminders of these wonderfully romantic pieces of history, we tend to forget about the bridges and their significance.

The County commissioners had a long discussion at their last meeting about having to save a historic county bridge, not a wooden covered bridge but one made of iron and steel.

I thought about the many meetings I have covered where some discussion about historic covered and iron bridges has taken place. Farmers don't like them because they can't get equipment across. School buses can't cross some of them due to weight limits. There isn't money in county or state budgets to repair roads and more modern bridges now. What is going to happen to these wonderful historic structures?

In 1978 a movement by our neighbors in Parke County, to keep their then 31 covered bridges safe occurred. The bridges were added to the National Register of Historic Places. This gave them some protection.

Still, between wanton destruction, lack of monies and the passing of time, these relics are disappearing

I hope the people of Putnam County continue to find a way to protect these valuable treasures before they are all gone.

Covered bridges link us to our past. They have wonderful characteristics. The hand built pieces show how amazingly well-built the workmanship was done without modern equipment.

One of my grandson's greatest joys is to drive over a covered bridge. He loves hearing about stories connected to the bridges. I like to think of him as a future protector of such historic icons.

We need to ensure the future generations are able to look to the past and learn about the history of the community.

We have nine covered bridges left in Putnam County. We have to do more than just take pride in our history, we need to protect it and that includes making our towns and county a better place to live with the pride of old structures and it allows us to show our children and grandchildren these wonderful artful structures from our past.

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