McMILLAN COVERED BRIDGE

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The McMillan Covered Bridge, also known as the Williams Covered Bridge, is no longer standing. Terry Miller noted in the 1968 Indiana Covered Bridge Society Newsletter that this structure spanned Millikan's Ford, named for local property owner Jacob Millikan, and therefore technically should be called the Millikan Covered Bridge … it crossed Beanblossom Creek in Section 30, Township 20 North, and Range 1 West, on Old Maple Grove Road, Monroe County. This single span Smith Truss structure had a length of 115 feet, or 125 feet including the 5-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 12 feet 6 inches wide by 12 feet 6 inches high. This was the last covered bridge to be built in Monroe County and was constructed by the Smith Bridge Company, the contract being signed by A. J. Sprague and the superstructure being finished November 4, 1871, for $2,019.30. In the 1968 ICBS Newsletter Mr. Miller explained that an iron bridge was originally intended and that construction for abutments and apron work had been contracted to Andrew Parks, superintended by William R. Carlton, for $625.00, which represented a significant savings to the county as this could have cost between $2,000 to $5,500. When the decision was made September 7, 1871, to build a wood span instead of the iron one, the abutments already in place were used and thus the total cost of the McMillan Covered Bridge was $2,644.80. In the following years the structure was little used, excepting by the local residents, and suffered from almost total neglect until the summer of 1972 when $14,000 was spent in a restoration. According to G. Gould's 1977 list, the McMillan Covered Bridge was listed as #14-53-01 in the World Guide, however, in the official 1972 World Guide it was identified as 14-54-02. The McMillan Covered Bridge was the last original Monroe County covered bridge standing until it was lost on June 29, 1976. In the year 2005 another covered bridge will span Beanblossom Creek where the McMillan stood for more than 100 years as the Cedar Ford Covered Bridge, originally located in Shelby County, will be erected here.

• Covered Bridge Project Resources

• Regarding Covered Bridge Designations