The OES visited the remnants of Loucks Bridge on January 28, 2006. Loucks Bridge, sometimes referred to as Waterloo #2 Bridge, was built in 1871 southeast of Canal Winchester over Little Walnut Creek on State Route 207 (Diley Road). With a stone foundation and steel roof, the 135-foot-long Loucks Bridge was of Burr Truss design and built by Jacob Brandt, who was responsible for building several other Fairfield County covered bridges. A mill was once located on the property just south of the bridge, but it has vanished into history. Loucks Bridge was closed to vehicle traffic in the 1970s. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was removed in 1985.
According to newspaper articles from 1987, Loucks Bridge was dismantled and sold to a Texas foundation in 1983 to be reconstructed as part of a historic park. The project was abandoned in 1986 after trustees voted to scale down the park’s development due to cost concerns. Officials in Fairfield County requested Loucks Bridge be returned to Ohio since it was not going to be rebuilt, and trustees in Texas said they would be happy to return it. However, a third party in California filed a lawsuit that claimed the bridge was among other items the Texas trustees agreed to sell him. We could not find any information on the outcome of this dispute. The last known location of the bridge’s timbers was at a former oil well site off FM 762 near Richmond, Texas, north of the George Ranch Historical Park. If you have any information or photos of Loucks Bridge, please email .
Location Information: Dismantled
Loucks Bridge was located at the end of Diley Road near Canal Winchester; Fairfield County.
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