Land gifts to enhance Carrollton bridge site
Comet staff report

Carrollton Bridge The County will have a dedication for the newly refurbished Carrollton Bridge in June 2008. The Canal Association is also planning to dedicate interpretive points of interest there at the same time. Photo provided

Gifts of land adjoining the Carrollton Bridge will be used to develop interpretive sites pertaining to the Wabash & Erie Canal.

"Though many know where the Carrollton Bridge is located, four miles north of Delphi, few really know the significance of this historic site," said Dan McCain, Canal Board president. "At one time, this site was a busy canal crossing of the Wabash River in the slackwater created by the Great Dam, four miles downstream at Pittsburg."

Dick and Polly Grantham and their daughters, Susan Grantham and Janet Israel, and Grantham family relatives, Curtis and Richard Johnsen from Texas are deeding parcels of land at the bridge site to the Wabash & Erie Canal Association. These two tracts border Towpath Road on the north end of the county's newly rehabilitated Carrollton Bridge.

Interpretive site development This drawing is a proposal for interpretive signage and interactive exhibits to promote awareness and education about the historic Wabash & Erie Canal. The interpretive development is made possible through land gifts from Grantham descendants and with monetary support from the Canal Society of Indiana. Sketch provided

The Granthams and their daughters donated the tract on the east side, and the Johnsen brothers donated the tract on the west side.

McCain said the original Grantham land holdings in this area north of the Wabash River go back to the beginning of land sales by the government in the 1830s, before the Wabash & Erie Canal had been built. This man-made waterway changed the landscape and pioneer settlement by the time it reached the platted town of Carrollton.

The Carrollton site was the only place where the canal's mainline crossed the Wabash River in the canal's 468-mile length. Interpretive signage will be placed at the site to explain how horses pulled boats across to re-join the towpath on the other side of the river. Descriptions also will be posted about the Mentzer Tavern, a popular canal stop-over that once stood on the Grantham land, and canal Lock #32 on the Johnsen land. An interpretive trail loop, picnic area, and parking will be available to the public.

McCain said the land gifts by the Grantham descendants express their desire to commemorate the history of the site. He added that local attorneys Barry Emerson and Kurtis Fouts also contributed to the project by providing pro bono services for deed preparation.

This winter and spring development of the historic points of interest will be pursued, with the goal of having a public dedication at the site on Fathers' Day in June 2008. The celebration will coincide with the County's dedication of the refurbished Carrollton Bridge. The interpretive work is made possible, in part, by a gift of $3,250 from the Canal Society of Indiana.

The Grantham parcel on the east side will be known as "Grantham's Landing" and will feature a canoe launch ramp beside the bridge approach, Mentzer Tavern signage and a picnic site. The Johnsen brothers have asked that their parcel on the west be named for their late mother, Mary K. Grantham- Johnsen, and be called "Mary K's Overlook."