The Covered Bridges of Rush County

 

August 2, 2013, Rush County, IN - At one time there were 19 covered bridges within the confines of Rush County, Indiana. As of today there are a total of 6 existing covered bridges. These bridges were built by the Kennedy family between the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Locals refer to them as the "...Cadillac's of covered bridges...". Most of the bridges share the common features of white clapboard, scroll work at the entrances and green lettering showing the builder and the year of construction.

Five of the six bridges are still in service although they were not immune to trouble. The Moscow Covered Bridge was nearly destroyed by a tornado in 2008. The bridge was able to be rebuilt with approximately 40% of the original materal being salvaged from from the Flatrock River. The sixth covered bridge sits in a field and has been used as a barn since it was washed away during a flood in 1892.

The bridges are the Moscow (17-70-07), Forsythe Mill (14-70-04), Offutt Ford (14-70-02), Smith (14-70-01), Norris Ford (17-70-08) and Homer Barn (14-70-18). All of the bridges are listed on the National Register of Historic Places except for the Moscow and the Homer Barn bridges.

Here is a web link to an article about the Covered Bridges of Rush County: Spanning History: The Kennedy Covered Bridges of Rush County.

Here is an additional link which includes a map of all of the covered bridges that were in Rush County: Rush County Covered Bridge Map.