Melcher Covered Bridge – Parke County – Indiana
The Melcher Covered Bridge was built in 1896 by Joseph A. Britton. The bridge is 97 ft long, and crosses Leatherwood Creek. Its name comes from Melcher Station, a former railroad station on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway. The bridge is located in Parke County, near the town of Montezuma, Indiana. Parke has called itself the covered bridge capitol of the world.
Covered bridge are timber-truss bridges consisting of a roof, decking, and siding and are often painted red, or white. More than 14,000 covered bridges were built in the United States, mostly between the years 1825-1875. Many have since been replaced with more robust steel bridges that can handle heavier vehicles and more traffic, and last longer with less upkeep. Today, roughly 750 remain in the United States, mostly in rural areas of the Eastern US. Good places to spot them include; Indiana (98), Ohio (54), and Pennsylvania (219).
