Leatherwood Station Covered Bridge

The Leatherwood Station Covered Bridge, sometimes called the Harry Wolf Bridge, was built in 1899 by Joseph A. Britton and Son, who won the contract with a bid of less than $680, narrowly beating out J.J. Daniels. It originally crossed Leatherwood Creek about four miles northwest of Rockville and two and a half miles southwest of Bloomingdale, serving a rural crossing near the old Leatherwood railroad station for which it was named. The single-span Burr Arch Truss structure was repaired by the Works Progress Administration in 1940. In August 1981, at a cost of roughly $50,000, the bridge was carefully dismantled and moved by Elmer Buchta to Billie Creek Village, a recreated historic village east of Rockville, where it was reassembled over Williams Creek and reopened on August 12, 1981, as a pedestrian, horse, and wagon crossing rather than a public vehicle road. Its portal was reworked during restoration into more of a Daniels-style arch, though the original angular Britton framing remains visible from inside the bridge. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978, prior to its relocation, as part of the Parke County Covered Bridges Multiple Property Submission, the bridge today is one of several historic structures gathered at Billie Creek Village for visitors to explore on foot.