Mansfield Village - Parke County Covered Bridge Festival - Visitors Guide

PARKE COUNTY'S COVERED BRIDGES 2024 CALENDAR

Beauty Built To Last...For GENERATIONS

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Chances are, not may folks stopped in the middle of a covered bridge to comment on its beauty or ingenious construction 100 years ago. They simply used it to cross a body of water.

Yet what was built with an ordinary purpose has become for many a source of extraordinary beauty; a muse for lovers, artists and writers; a focal point for wedding planners; and a curiosity for engineers and tourists. Unfortunately they are also fragile, often falling prey to vandalism and arson.

Parke County's thirty-one remaining treasures give good reason for calling us the Capital of Covered Bridge Country, with the oldest dating back to 1856 and the newest to 2006.

This beautiful, full-sized calendar showcases a different Parke County Covered Bridge each month.

Join us January 27th - 29th at Turkey Run Inn State Park where the Eagles in Flight Weekend will occur at both the Inn and the Nature Center. Discover nest, an overnight roost & hunting grounds as we explore the habitats of bald eagles. Enjoy live eagle, hawk and owl programs! Admission for the weekend is $15 for ages 13 and up, and $10 for ages 4-12. Children under age 4 get in free. Regular park entrance fees will apply: $7 for in-state and $9 for out-of-state vehicles. Use group code EAG17 to make inn room reservations at 1-877-563-4371 or Indianainns.com. Watch for more details on our program site http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2420.htm. Or you can call the Nature Center at 765-597-2654

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• January 2023

27th-29th Eagles in Flight Weekend - Turkey Run State Park (Marshall)

• February 2023

18th Montezuma Chili Cook Off

25th & 26th Parke County Maple Fair (Countywide) - Headquarters 4H Fairgrounds (Rockville)

• March 2023

4th & 5th Parke County Maple Fair (Countywide) - Headquarters 4H Fairgrounds (Rockville)

• April 2023

1st Easter Egg Hunt - Rockville Lake

28th - 30th Women's Wellness Retreat - Turkey Run State Park (Marshall)

29th & 30th Bridgeton Rendezvous

29th & 30th Mansfield Village Mushroom Festival

• May 2023

5th Hobsons Adventure Farm Baby Animal Festival

20th Zoom Town 5k Run (Montezuma)

• June 2023

2nd - 4th Rosedale Strawberry Festival

3rd & 4th The 17th Annual Miami Indian Gathering (Pow Wow)

3rd Rockville Mainstreet Cruise-in

TBA Parke County Rumble

24th Rockville Brick Street Market

TBA Covered Bridge Antique Power Club Tractor Drive (countywide)

24th Rockville Lake Fireworks (Rockville)

• July 2023

1st Raccoon Lake SRA Independence Celebration

TBA Montezuma Independence Celebration

TBA Parke County 4-H Fair (Fairgrounds)

4th Rosedale Fireworks

• August 2023

12th Raccoon Lake SRA Smokey's Birthday Pedal Ride

19th Car Show Rockville Lake Park

26th - 27th Bridgeton Civil War Days

• September 2023

1st - 30th Covered Bridge Art Association Open Art Show

9th & 10th Bridgeton Milling Days

9th & 10th Mansfield Village Cornbread Festival

23rd - 27th Model T Covered Bridge tour (Countywide)

29th & 30th Newport Hill Climb

• October 2023

1st Newport Hill Climb

13th - 22nd Parke County Covered Bridge Festival (Countywide)

28th Montezuma Pranks in the park

• November 2023

24th -26th Bridgeton Country Christmas

• December 2023

1st & 2nd Rosedale Country Christmas Shop

1st - 3rd Bridgeton Country Christmas2nd & 3rd Rockville Hometown Holidays

TBA Covered Bridge Art Association Holiday Home Tour

Visit Bridgeton Country Christmas Nov 25-27, Dec 2-4 Hours 10-6 Fridays and Saturdays, 10-5 Sundays

There is something new this year at the Bridgeton Mill you won’t want to miss! Festival goers and visitors alike will find the historic Dr. Crooks Building has been purchased by Mike and Karen Roe who own the mill and wares will be on hand in the building. The building has a fascinating history. In 1849, the miller built the first bridge. It was a crude open bridge on top of his dam in the creek. When it was completed, the miller opened the first post office and named the town Bridgeton. Because it was not covered to the elements, the bridge only lasted eight years. It was replaced by another that lasted 10 years. Finally, the county paid the miller to tear down his dam and bridge so it could make way for a two-span covered bridge across Big Raccoon Creek. The miller then rebuilt his mill dam downstream and created a beautiful mill pond under the new covered bridge. In 1869, Dr. Crooks built his new three-story building near the mill. In 1869 the mill burned down and in 1870 the miller built a new mill building downstream where it still sits today. This four-story building is considered a modern mill because of the labor-saving devices installed.

This year the Dr. Crooks building will have exhibitors, one who builds fabulous furniture the old fashioned way. Make sure to stop in and visit the mill and the historical Dr. Crooks’ building! 

As you probably know this is not a government project. This is a Mike and Karen Roe project. Tourism creates income and this income pays for the restoration of the Bridgeton Mill and the historic Dr. Crooks building.

Thank you for your support!

Mike and Karen Roe

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The 67th Annual Parke County Covered Bridge Festival 2022 is well underway. Festival Dates are October 14th- October 23rd. We sincerely apologize for our page not being up to date. Please bare with us as we work in the next few weeks to get everything accurate for the Upcoming year. In the meantime please visit the Covered Bridge Festival and Enjoy your time in Beautiful Parke County Indiana!! 

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October 14-23, 2022

Festival Headquarters on the Rockville Square: The foundation of the festival, the Rockville Square is where the Covered Bridge Festival began in 1957. Rockville hosts vendors of homemade/handmade items, primities, and antiques. Local non profits serve a variety of foods each day in their food shacks around the South side of the courthouse lawn. Two information booths on the square offer free covered bridge maps, directions and helpful information to plan your visit in Parke County. Find additional shopping around Rockville at antique stores, boutiques, and the local art gallery. The Historic Ritz theater offers several theatrical presentations during the festival.

We've had requests for GPS mappable addresses for those planning to visit Mansfield Village during the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. Many Mansfield locations actually display as "Carbon" or "Rockville" addresses, although mansfield is about ten miles southeast of Rockville (as the crow flies). If your GPS won't accept "Mansfield Indiana" as a destination, try one of the following addresses. These should get you within a few blocks of the Mansfield Covered Bridge. These addresses also work within Google Maps. Click HERE to find Fox's Overlook in Mansfield Village. Click "Continue reading" for Addresses.

Thousands of visitors to Parke County's Covered Bridge Festival veer off of the planned tour route to see the old grist mill on the banks of Big Raccoon Creek in Mansfield. Preview this book by clicking HERE

$6.00 (plus shipping)

You can read all of this and a lot more in "Mansfield: It's More Than a Mill" available at Greencastle Offset Printing, Fox's Overlook in Mansfield, and online through the Parke County Guide STORE. 24 Pages plus cover.  Cover features color photos.  It'll be the best $6.00 you've ever spent! (plus Shipping)

Click here to Order Online!

Preview this book by clicking HERE

Mansfield Recipes & Memories

A Treasury of Recipes and Mansfield history from Ernestine Harmless, Lundsford Family and Friends.

176 Pages and 244 Recipes.

Order Online!

Get your copy at Greencastle Offset Printing & Graphics, 20 South Jackson Street, Greencastle, IN 46135

$14.00 (plus shipping)
   

Click here to Order Online!

Preview this cookbook by clicking HERE

The "Covered Bridge Capital of the World" is Parke County, Indiana. There are 30 historic covered bridges in the county, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Every October, there is a festival celebrating the covered bridges of Parke County, starting on the second weekend of the month. Autumn is an especially beautiful time to visit the Midwestern countryside. Fall colors decorate the trees and the weather is mild. The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival is regarded as one of the "Top Fall Festivals in North America" by the Society of American Travel Writers.