Bridgeton Covered Bridge

The original Bridgeton Covered Bridge was built in 1868 by a crew led by master builder J.J. Daniels, whose Burr Plan design won out over competing Howe and Smith truss proposals in a contentious bidding process. Built directly above the dam of the Bridgeton Mill on Big Raccoon Creek, with its abutments tied into the dam structure itself, the two-span, 267-foot Burr Arch bridge became one of the most photographed and beloved landmarks in Parke County, gracing countless postcards and calendars. It was bypassed for vehicular traffic by a modern bridge in 1967 but remained a treasured pedestrian attraction. On April 28, 2005, the historic structure was destroyed in an act of arson; the perpetrator, apprehended near the Mansfield Covered Bridge shortly afterward, was also linked to the burning of the Jeffries Ford Covered Bridge and was ultimately committed to a state mental hospital rather than tried. The loss galvanized the community, and local citizens, Wabash College volunteers, and the state of Indiana rebuilt a faithful reproduction, completed at a cost of about $125,000 and reopened on October 1, 2006. Despite the destruction of the original fabric, the bridge remains listed on the National Register of Historic Places (listed December 22, 1978), and today serves as a pedestrian landmark beside the still-operating Bridgeton Mill.