Marshall Covered Bridge

The Marshall Covered Bridge was built in 1917 by Joseph A. Britton and Son, one of the last bridges Britton completed in the county before his death, constructed when he was around 80 years old. The single-span Burr Arch Truss bridge crosses Rush Creek about two and a half miles southwest of Tangier in Liberty Township. Despite its name, the bridge has no connection to the town of Marshall, which lies many miles away in a different part of the county; it is instead most likely named for David W. Marshall, who owned the nearby 132-acre Hill Crest Valley Farm, or possibly for Mahlon Marshall, a Civil War veteran and Parke County commissioner during the construction of the county courthouse. The bridge remains in everyday use, carrying light local traffic under a modern posted weight limit, with National Bridge Inventory records showing modest average daily traffic reflecting its rural setting. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978, as part of the countywide Parke County Covered Bridges Multiple Property Submission. Today the Marshall Covered Bridge stands as a quiet, well-preserved example of Britton's late career work in Liberty Township, north of Rockville.