Cumberland Covered Bridge

The Cumberland Covered Bridge (also called the Matthews Covered Bridge, or New Cumberland Bridge) spans the Mississinewa River at Jefferson Township, in the town of Matthews, Grant County, and is the only covered bridge remaining in the county. It was built in 1877 by William Parks of Marion, Indiana, using a Howe truss design; sources give slightly different lengths, citing figures between 175 and 181 feet, and it rests on stone abutments with roughly four-foot overhangs at each end. The bridge's most dramatic moment came during the great flood of 1913, when rising water lifted it off its foundations and carried it roughly half a mile downstream; local crews later winched it back upstream on log rollers pulled by teams of horses and reset it on abutments raised three feet higher than before. It sustained only minor board damage in the 1958 flood. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and underwent a thorough rehabilitation in 1999. Today it still stands over the Mississinewa near Matthews as a preserved historic landmark and a popular stop for covered-bridge enthusiasts, anchoring a small riverside park in the community.