Darlington Bridge

The Darlington Covered Bridge, spanning Sugar Creek just west of Darlington in Franklin Township, Montgomery County, was built in 1868, making it the fourth-oldest covered bridge still standing in Indiana. In 1867, forty-six local men launched a subscription campaign that raised $1,585 to fund construction; contractor Joseph Kress built the bridge for the Smith Bridge Company, with Richard Epperson serving as construction superintendent. It is a single-span Howe truss — one of twenty-three Howe truss spans remaining in the state — combining timber compression members with adjustable iron tension rods. A distinctive feature is its wooden block floor, a flooring technique rarely seen among Indiana's surviving covered bridges, laid to withstand heavy horse and wagon traffic. The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1974 as modern roads bypassed it, but the town of Darlington and Montgomery County have preserved it as a pedestrian landmark and popular photography subject, especially in autumn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1990. Today the bridge anchors a small roadside park at County Roads 500N and 500E, remaining one of only two covered bridges left in Montgomery County alongside the Deer's Mill Bridge.