Guilford Covered Bridge

The Guilford Covered Bridge is Dearborn County's last surviving covered bridge, a Burr Arch truss structure built in 1879 by Archibald M. Kennedy & Sons of Rushville. It originally carried Yorkridge Road traffic over the East Fork of Tanners Creek. Unusually for its era, the bridge's deck was surfaced with Belgian wood blocks, one of only three such installations known in Indiana at the time, and in the early 1900s extra bracing was added to handle heavier loads generated by the area's growing coal-mining traffic. Slated for demolition and replacement with a concrete span in 1960, the bridge was saved when local residents organized a "Save the Guilford Covered Bridge" campaign, raising the funds needed to relocate the structure a short distance to a small park tract along State Route 1 near the community of Guilford, where it now spans the East Fork of Tanners Creek within Guilford Covered Bridge Park. On the night of September 16, 1993, an arsonist set fire to the bridge, causing significant damage; it was fully restored in 1997 by L.L. Brown Co. and the Amos Schwartz Company for the Dearborn County Park and Recreation Board. Today it remains a well-preserved county landmark and roadside attraction.