Cades Mill Covered Bridge

The Cades Mill Covered Bridge is Indiana's oldest covered bridge still standing on its original site. Built in 1854 (oral tradition holds 1850) with public funds to aid travelers heading west from the Wabash Valley toward the land office in Crawfordsville, the single-span, 14-panel Howe truss was erected by builder Captain White and financed in part by the Wabash & Erie Canal Association. It carries Cades Hollow Road across Coal Creek southwest of Veedersburg, near the unincorporated Steam Corner community in Wabash Township, replacing an earlier 1828 span. The bridge takes its name from David Cade, one of the county-appointed agents who oversaw construction and later owned the adjacent gristmill (destroyed by lightning in the late 1940s/early 1950s). In 1976 a modern bridge bypassed the crossing, closing Cades Mill to vehicles. Long threatened by deterioration and named to an endangered-places list, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2021, alongside Fountain County's other two covered bridges. The Fountain County Art Council raised funds for an extensive rehabilitation completed in 2024–2025, with a rededication ceremony held June 8, 2025. It now stands preserved as a pedestrian landmark and the centerpiece of the county's covered-bridge heritage.