Fruit Basket Inn

09/10/2026

Take a walk and cross the bridge.

There is a lot to see and learn about Wabash County. This is a picture of the 174 foot long and 18 foot wide, board and batten, covered bridge at South Mill St. in North Manchester built in 1872 by the Smith Bridge Co. of Toledo, Ohio. It is a Smith Type 4 Truss covered bridge. Originally cost $3,515. It was the third such bridge located at the south end of Sycamore St. spanning the Eel River. The first bridge was built at the site where two important roads came together at the Eel River, the Manchester/Lagro Road and the Manchester/Servia Road. The first was washed away in 1857 and the second washed away with this one being built in 1872. It is considered the widest covered bridge in Indiana. There is a 12 foot overhang at either end of the bridge. At one time a walkway, 5x8 feet high, was attached to the north side of the bridge. It was later removed. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In 2013 it was rehabilitated and upgraded with replaced roof, siding, floor beams and installed lighting at a cost of $724,000. The contractor was CLR, Inc. It was then opened to traffic but limited-no trucks or buses. The only other remaining covered bridge in Wabash County is located at Roann. At one time or another there have been about 30 covered bridges in Wabash County mainly in the communities at Lagro, Dora, Red Bridge, Somerset, Wabash, Roann, Laketon, Liberty Mills and North Manchester. The one at Wabash was said to be the longest in Indiana. Sherry Courtney Lopez adds that "Sorg’s Trailer Court was right near there, played under, and on this bridge alot in the late 70's and early 80's." Dennis Mickey Jones recalls he “Lived two houses down from it. We would lay in bed at night and listen to cars crossing it and hope and pray they would make it without falling through! We also rode our bikes across it to go downtown to our dad’s gas station too!” Billie Hedde remembers “Our family passed through the old bridge many times as we made our way home on Singer Road. The boards always clanked and rumbled sounding especially loud inside of the bridge. That was just part of the fun of going across it.” Linda Lou Lindemuth Fulwider has "memories of crossing this bridge many times. Often with a prayer it wouldn't collapse!" Lora Emmerd recalls she “grew up there. Walked & rode across that bridge many times. Love the sound of the boards as you drive across.”

09/05/2026

Blooming sedums bring back more pollinators to the garden.

09/03/2026

One bridge reconstruction project done and reopened!!!

Which looks better?
1️⃣ 🚧 CLOSED
2️⃣ 🛣️ OPEN

Better… or worse?
1… or 2?
How about now? 😂

We think #2 is looking pretty crystal clear!

THE SOUTH MARKET STREET BRIDGE IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!

After nearly 9 months of construction, the barricades are down, and traffic can once again travel South Market Street.

A HUGE thank you for your patience over the last nine months. We know road closures and detours aren't easy, and we appreciate everyone hanging in there while this important project was completed.

South Market Street is OPEN—drive on through!

And yes… we definitely think #2 looks better.

08/30/2026

We love providing these wonderful products to our guests... The Tangerine Lemongrass scent is subtle and perfect for everyone.

So someone asked me if I had ever been to a refillary. Have I? Yes. Many. Why was I completely disappointed? Because most of them don’t make their own products— they buy in bulk and pass the high costs to you. Disappointing to say the least AND they don’t control their ingredients. Stop in. See what we are about— safest ingredients possible while maintaining manageable prices. We make EVERY SINGLE personal care and household cleaning product right here in North Manchester.

08/27/2026

A wonderful spot for a tenderloin or burger!

Spring of 1962 David Clapp and his wife, Shirley, purchased former Dog ‘n Suds Drive In located on the west end of North Manchester where Hardees was for many years. After Hardee’s it was Penguin Point for a short time and now it is Beef-A-Roo. They had car-hop service for 10 years until Mr. Dave's moved to the northeast corner of Main and Market streets in December of 1972. The former Mike’s Standard Oil gas station was converted into the iconic, popular, homey Mr. Dave's where everyone felt the down home Hoosier hospitality. In 1997, David and Shirley’s son Kevin Douglas Clapp and his wife Tina (Shepherd) took over ownership purchasing Mr. Dave’s from his parents and ran the business for 20 years continuing the high standards set by his father. The highly popular restaurant, Mr. Dave’s was featured in many newspapers, dining guides and magazines for their award winning tenderloin sandwiches. The restaurant garnered many awards for the Clapps. The Clapps also perfected a pork barbecue sandwich, hand ground hamburger and homemade potato salad. In 2013 Mr. Dave's received the State of Indiana “Half Century Business Award” from Governor Mitch Daniels for outstanding contributions to the economic growth and prosperity of Indiana. May 13, 2017, was the last day for Mr. Dave’s as Kevin retired. When word got out about the closing, people lined up and waited as long as an hour or more to get one last taste of Mr. Dave’s. After remaining closed for a short time another party purchased the iconic restaurant, kept the name and reopened. The walls are lined with memorabilia from the Clapp's. My wife and I visited a short time after they reopened and found the food just as good and service great. Stop by and see what you think.

08/27/2026

Every morning, we bring out the china and beautiful glassware for breakfast!

08/22/2026

Take a walk down Main Street

Public art takes many forms and over the past several years many examples have been appearing in Wabash County. One form is wall murals. Wabash has several, Lagro, LaFontaine and Roann have one. In 2020 North Manchester joined the list. This is a wall mural painted by celebrated muralist and graphic designer Claudio “Remix Uno” Rico born in Mexico City, on the eastern wall of the Selleck Shoe Repair & Western Wear business, 214 E. Main St. in North Manchester. It was created during the Make It Your Own Mural Fest a collaboration of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and Arts United of Greater Fort Wayne. Over 11 days, 11 artists installed a “high quality” mural one in each of the 11 counties in Northeast Indiana. The purpose was enhance the “region’s efforts to drive talent attraction, talent retention and tourism by investing in quality of place assets and public art.” A jury consisting of Brooke Vanderpool, Susan Ring, Heidi Lovett and Ejenobo Oke selected the work. Rico’s works have appeared all over the United States, Europe and Africa. In 2020 alone he painted 40 murals. His work has appeared Mexico City, Boulder, Co., Vantaa, Finland, New York City, St. Louis, Kenya among many other places. His collages and street art are said to “uniquely fuse Hispanic imagery, Latin American folklore and urban distortions...his use of pure colors, geometric shapes and biomorphic forms and abstractions recalling the works of Spanish artist Joan Miro. Standing out in his North Manchester work is the bald eagle, surrounded by geometric forms, with the word “inspire.” Rico said of the wall mural “Probably the biggest thing you can take from this is when you’re hungry for achieving your dreams, there’s nothing that can stop you. No matter what, you can get the stuff done.”

08/22/2026

Another interesting nature space in our area.

This is an unusual natural geographical feature found in northern Wabash County that few people know about-a tamarack bog. You may have driven by it and not known of its importance. The bog is located north of Laketon about a mile on the east side of the Ogden Road. Just east of the tree line in the picture is a recessed area a bog. The bog is a glacial depression, a relic from Indiana’s glacial past. Naturalists from around the state have studied the unique flora and fauna of the area. The thin conifer like trees in the bog, appearing darker in this picture, are tamaracks (larix laricina). This is about the southern limit of the tree which likes cold. The tamarack resembles an evergreen but it is actually a deciduous conifer. The tamarack are found in sphagnum bogs and swamps. The wood is tough and durable but flexible in thin strips. The needles of the tree turn a bright yellow and drop in the autumn. At one time they were so thick that it was hard to walk through the area. The Algonquian people used them to make snowshoes. Later, settlers used them to make corduroy roads because of their resistance to rot. Thousands of trees were removed from the area to be used in housing construction and railroad ties. More recently, a lot of the tamarack trees were lost due to herbicide drift although there are still some to see. About 1970 the Lee Brubaker family purchased the area in order to stop it being used as a possible landfill. The 70 acre Laketon Bog Natural Area is public but the land around it is private. There are no trail maps down into it. If you wish to venture into the bog, it is always a wise courtesy to ask permission of the surrounding property owner. In 2017 Robin Brubaker stated that he “allowed parking in my drive. I will explain the layout of the area too. Even a little history. My father loved nature and we are blessed that it will stay natural. I am very courteous to folks who wanna see nature. The state owns the swamp...but we own the surrounding woods. Please take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.” Abby West states that she has “had the pleasure of walking down in that bog... Very, very interesting and I couldn't thank the Brubaker's enough for being so generous in sharing this great place.” Next time you are in the area you might slow down and look at the bog and tamaracks-a rare sight to see and right here in Wabash County. It is a rare glimpse into what Wabash County looked like before human habitation.

08/20/2026

Looking forward to a new year of MU families.

Before classes begin on Monday, we have a fun-filled weekend planned for our students to get to know each other, campus, faculty and staff. The Week of Welcome (WoW) schedule can be found here: https://bit.ly/4eWqcXV