Huffman Mill Covered Bridge, Fulda Indiana

Date added: January 17, 2024

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge was constructed in 1864-1865 linking Perry and Spencer Counties. The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is one of approximately ninety-one remaining covered bridges in the state of Indiana. It is also one of only 64 surviving examples of the Burr Arch Truss method, which marked a major advance in American bridge engineering. It is only one of seven or eight bridges ever built in Southern Indiana by William T. Washer of his modified Burr Arch Truss system, and probably the only one that remains.

The bridge derives its name from the Huffman family, early settlers to the Indiana Territory. George Huffman first arrived in present-day Perry County in 1804 from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In approximately 1808 he moved to Kentucky, but returned to the Anderson River region of Indiana in 1812. Within several years the family became prosperous, eventually amassing some 1100 acres of land where they farmed, lumbered, and raised stock.

As a farmer, George Huffman realized the dilemma that the lack of local milling operations posed his neighbors. Typically, round-trip travel of some 60 miles was required to grind corn for meal and flour. In response, Huffman built a crude water-driven flour and grist mill, circa 1816. This water mill is alleged to be the first such apparatus built in Southern Indiana. Customers of the mill, who often came from as far as 20 miles away, included a young Abraham Lincoln, whose family resided in Spencer County.

The construction of a mill encouraged settlement in the area. As a result, Huffman sold lands from his holdings to new arrivals, and a small community known simply as Huffman Mill began to grow. The community soon boasted a school, church, and physician, to which Huffman added a blacksmith shop and general store. To complement the grist mill, he built a sawmill where the timbers for Abraham Lincoln's flatboat were alleged to be cut.

The demand for milled products increased with the rise in population, prompting Huffman to replace the first mill with a steam-powered version. When this second mill burned it was replaced by a third; a water-driven turbine wheel. The third mill necessitated a dam that often caused flooding of nearby farms. As a result, the fourth and final mill, driven by steam, was constructed. This last Huffman Mill was demolished in 1906, ending a family operation that thrived for more than seven generations, and a business that spurred a still extant community.

Before the Civil War, access to the Huffman community required crossing the Anderson River between Perry and Spencer Counties. This necessitated swimming, rafting, or horseback travel. Yet at times of heavy rains such travel proved impossible. Increasing county populations necessitated improved roadway access between the two counties. In addition, the steady increase of commerce and industry required bridge construction over waterways, connecting such counties and facilitating business growth.

To remedy this transportation dilemma, Spencer and Perry County Commissions cooperated in formulating plans to finance the construction of a series of covered bridges. Subsequently, Huffman Mill Bridge became one of five such transportation links between Perry and Spencer Counties, allowing ease in travel and trade between the communities.

Special session records of the Perry County Commission of July 23^rd, 1864, confirm a contractual agreement with William T. Washer for a "bridge across the Anderson River near John H. Huffman's Mill … of the Burr Truss Plan with arches." The total payment was to be ten thousand dollars in "good and lawfull money of the United States". Installment payments to William T. Washer for both material and labor are documented throughout Perry County Commission records for 1864 and 1865.

Without question, the crucial factor in the site selection for the Huffman Mill Bridge, the bridge's very existence, was the location of the mill itself.. The mill was an early economic and social gathering place that subsequently spawned a thriving community. Without the mill and its supporting town, it is highly unlikely the bridge's site would have been chosen.

Completed and opened for travel in the summer of 1865, the bridge at long last eliminated transportation hardships for the mill community. It continues in operation today, although the last Huffman Mill was demolished in 1906. The bridge has closed only once since it was erected, and then only temporarily, for repairs in 1988. It survives as a subtle reminder of ever-advancing transportation and engineering modes, as well as a testimony to its remarkable construction.

There is, however, limited information available on the builder, William T. Washer, of Cannelton, Indiana. Available sources estimate that he constructed some twenty covered bridges throughout southwestern Indiana, including two of the five that once linked Perry and Spencer Counties: the Huffman Mill and Shoals Washer used a variety of truss methods, specifically the Smith and Burr. The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is likely the single extant example of his modified Burr Arch Truss. It is the last covered bridge serving Perry and Spencer Counties, as the Shoals and three others linking the two counties were demolished before 1968.

Bridge Description

The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is located along the Anderson River in southernmost Indiana. Half of the bridge sits in Harrison Township, Spencer County, three miles east of Fulda. The other half lies in Anderson Township, Perry County, four miles southwest of Bristow. The bridge connects Spencer County Road 1490 North with Perry County Road 30. It is located in rural surroundings with the property, including approaches, abutments, and piers, being less than one acre. There are no surrounding buildings or structures. The bridge's superstructure is constructed primarily of wood, with stone and steel being used in the substructure. This rectangular, one-lane bridge is covered with a gabled, steel roof. The bridge is in good condition and has had very little alteration since its initial construction.

The Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is a covered, timber frame, single-span, 20-panel Burr Arch-Truss bridge. The overall bridge span is 148 feet, including the Burr Truss Arch, which spans 146 feet. There is a ten-foot overhang on each end. The overall horizontal deck width is 15 feet, 2 inches, with an approaching roadway width of 14 feet, 1 inch. Vertical clearance is 10 feet, 7 inches.

The bridge was constructed in 1864-1865. It was during this time that the Burr Arch Truss system was considered a significant advance in American bridge design. The system, patented by Theodore Burr in 1817, uses a series of timber frame members known as kingposts, or panels. In combination with these panels is the arch, which runs the depth of the frame, for added strength. These frames are then covered with siding and a roof to protect the construction material from environmental degradation.

The structural significance of the Huffman Mill Covered Bridge is also seen in builder William T. Washer's adaptation of the Burr Truss system. According to the book, Covered Bridges in Indiana, only the kingposts of Washer's Burr-Arch bridges were completely upright, with all other vertical members angled to form acute triangles. Washer's method contrasted typical Burr-style bridges in which framing members were shaped as right-angled, scalene triangles. Washer's bridges also featured timbers that were larger at the points of intersection than in the remainder of the members. Except for these changes, Washer consistently followed Theodore Burr's framing method. Unfortunately, it is unknown to historians why Washer used this adaption.

Huffman Mill Covered Bridge features abutments of sandstone. Three sets of piers consist of steel and wooden posts embedded in concrete. The superstructure consists of a wooden through truss. The deck, truss, and arches are comprised of yellow poplar, chosen for its malleability and general ease of forming timbers into a curved shape. Clapboard siding, also of yellow poplar, encompasses the exterior sections of the panels to form the bridge walls.

A gabled, sheet metal roof covers the entire structure. Immediately below the eaves are long bands of horizontal windows. Each side has two windows, one each located on both the northern and southern ends, which allow for light penetration. In the central portion of the clapboard siding, approximately midway between the top and bottom chords on both sides, is another horizontal band of windows admitting light. These windows feature small overhangs to prevent precipitation from blowing into the openings.

The overall condition of the bridge is good. The horizontal clapboard is sound and painted white. The wooden trusses, Burr Arch, floor, and roofing members are sound. Graffiti covers most of the exposed areas of the arch and panels. One prominent feature of the bridge is a watermark mounted by the United States Engineering Department during a flood in 1937. Another feature is a sign hung atop a cross-framing member which states the builder, yet gives an erroneous construction date of 1863.

Repairs to the bridge have been minimal. Work during the 1920s added concrete at the footing, as well as the placement of an oak beam underneath the decking for increasing strength. Repairs undertaken in 1988 stabilized the substructure and beams. Most recently, an Intermodel Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act grant of $190,000.00 was awarded to Spencer County in November 1995, for overall rehabilitation of the structure.