Mill Creek Covered Bridge

The Mill Creek Covered Bridge, variously known historically as Thompson's Ford, Tow Path, or Earl Ray Covered Bridge, was completed in 1907 under contractor D.M. Brown, though builder William Hendricks was ultimately brought in to direct the construction after Brown struggled to get the project underway; J.J. Daniels had earlier submitted a losing bid on the job. The single-span Burr Arch Truss bridge crosses the Wabash Mill Creek about two and a half miles southwest of Tangier, near land once owned by Thornton Thompson, though the "Thompson's Ford" name most likely honors an earlier settler, Joseph Thompson, who built a small mill nearby in 1829. Its alternate name, Tow Path Bridge, reflects the road it carries, still called Tow Path Road today, a reminder of the area's early canal-era commerce along the historic Wabash and Erie Canal corridor. The bridge remains a working rural crossing, showing signs of age at its arch ends where wood and steel I-beam supports have been added, and its northeast abutment has been reinforced with a wood pile wall as the creek's course has shifted slightly over time. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978, the Mill Creek Covered Bridge continues to carry local traffic in Liberty Township.