Busching Bridge

The Busching Bridge, likely named for the Ernst Busching family who lived nearby, was built in 1885 by Thomas A. Hardman of Brookville, a prolific local contractor who also rebuilt many Dearborn and Ripley County bridges destroyed during Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan's 1863 raid. Hardman built four of Ripley County's seven covered bridges; only this span and the nearby Holton (Otter Creek) Bridge survive, and the two are near-twins, sharing red-painted siding and distinctive awninged windows at midspan. The bridge contract set costs at $20.80 per linear foot, to be finished by October 20, 1885, though Hardman was ultimately paid only about $2,200. It is a modified Howe truss, pairing wooden diagonal compression members with adjustable iron tie rods in tension, set on stone abutments and wing walls. The bridge crosses Laughery Creek at the entrance to Versailles State Park and originally carried the Versailles-Dillsboro Turnpike (Highway 4); when the park entrance road was rerouted in 1930, the bridge lost its through-traffic role but kept serving local access. Fully restored in 2005 by CLR, Inc. of Vincennes and Amos B. Schwartz Construction, it remains the only covered bridge in Ripley County still open to vehicles, carrying thousands of park visitors each year. It was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 alongside the Holton Bridge.