Bridges, Bikes and Books Spring Blast in Carthage Indiana

Offutt Covered Bridge in Rush County

If you are a student of history, you may know Carthage as a  rival of early Rome. It was their general Hannibal who crossed the Alps with elephants to attack Rome. Not many folks know there is a town named Carthage in Indiana. It's a small town in Rush county, with slightly less than a thousand inhabitants. Despite its small size, it is an old town - It was platted back in 1834, less than twenty years after Indiana joined the Union.

It's no secret that things are tough for small towns these days. As more people choose to live in the larger cities, that leaves fewer people for places like Carthage. They have suffered some setbacks in the past few years. The CKS (Carthage - Knightstown - Shirley) railroad, a popular tourist attraction, shut down in 2013. The local elementary school closed in 2014. The local folks didn't throw in the towel though - In 2015 they founded Future of Carthage, a non-profit organization. Since I grew up in Acton Indiana, I'm a supporter of small towns. I decided to help them out a bit with some publicity for their bike ride.

On Saturday, May 6 Future of Carthage will hold a fundraiser for the town's Henry Henley Library. The event is called Bridges, Bikes and Books Spring Blast. As part of the festivities, they will have their Covered Bridge Bike Tour starting at 8:00 AM. Riders have a choice of 13 or 33 mile routes. For more information about the ride, please visit the Future of Carthage Facebook page.