Cumberland Covered Bridge, Matthews Indiana
The Cumberland Covered Bridge is an important surviving example of engineering techniques used to meet transportation needs in the nineteenth century.
In March 1863, forty petitioners appeared before the Grant County Commissioners to request that a bridge be erected over the Mississinewa River at New Cumberland. The Commissioners responded to the request and paid William F. Parks $722 in 1865 to construct a wooden span. This first bridge was an open structure that rotted in ten years.
The County turned to the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio to build a new bridge. The Smith Bridge Company was awarded a contract on August 8th, 1876, to construct an open Howe Truss bridge. Robert W. Smith established this Ohio firm in 1867. Smith was a native of Ohio, and although he had little formal education, he developed engineering skills from his natural talent and brief years as an apprentice. In 1867 and 1869 he received design patents for what is known as the Smith Patented Truss. Earlier he had developed a self-supporting roof truss system for large barns. Until taken over in the early 1890s by the Toledo Bridge Company, the Smith Bridge Company was associated with at least 43 Indiana covered bridges. As a rule, after being cut and assembled in the Toledo yard, timbers were dismantled and shipped by rail or water to the bridge site. A local agent or carpenter from the Toledo yard would then make the final assembly.
The Smith Company charged $18.50 per linear foot to construct the Cumberland Bridge without siding and a roof. After the bridge was completed in 1877, Peter Millspaugh, a local carpenter, and his fifteen-year-old son William finished the bridge by adding siding and a roof.
The bridge served the village of New Cumberland which had been laid out in 1833. In addition to providing a route for farmers north of the Mississinewa River to come into New Cumberland, the bridge gave the village and farmers south of the river access to the larger town of Hartford City. As a transportation link, the structure became more important after the gas boom of the late 1800s created more towns and commercial activity in the area. The settlement of Matthews was founded in 1895 near New Cumberland. The brick and 23 glass factories in Matthews no doubt relied heavily on the covered bridge. When it was officially incorporated in 1902, Matthews was expanded to include the old village of New Cumberland.
Indiana suffered from major floods in 1913, and the Cumberland Covered Bridge was a victim of the disaster. On March 24, 1913, flood waters washed the structure about three-quarters of a mile downstream. Upon examination, it was determined that although the siding and roof had suffered considerable damage, the frame was sound. The County Commissioners decided to bring the structure back to its foundation, and they awarded the contract to George Lemon of Marion, Indiana. After the removal of the roof and siding, Lemond used a winch, rollers, and a team of horses to return the wandering bridge to its original site. At this time each abutment was raised by three feet, and the roof and siding were replaced.
Covered bridges were developed in the nineteenth century to prolong the life of exposed wooden structures. With proper care, a covered bridge could last well over a hundred years. The Cumberland Bridge preserves an important stage in bridge-building techniques. The Howe Truss is a link between the earlier all-wooden structures and the iron truss structures which reached their height at the turn of the century. The Howe system used vertical iron rods which added to the bridge's strength while reducing the weight required. The rods also made it possible to keep the frame aligned by tightening or loosening the tension. This combination of iron and wood was a basic step in the development from all-wood to all-iron bridges.
Records indicate that over 600 covered bridges were constructed in Indiana from 1820 to 1922. Of these, only 102 are still standing. The Cumberland Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in Grant County.
Bridge Description
The Cumberland Covered Bridge is a Howe Truss single span across the Mississinewa River at the east edge of Matthews, Indiana.
The bridge is 175 feet long, rests on stone abutments, and has four-foot overhangs at each end. A gabled shingled roof is supported by square portals which provide a clearance of sixteen feet above an asphalt roadbed. The structure is a Howe Truss with wooden cross braces that form boxed X's along the sides. The vertical posts of the boxes are iron rods. Vertical wood siding covers the truss skeleton. A two-foot opening along the top of the sides admits light and air to the bridge interior. The exterior is painted red with white on the portals; the interior is white.
The original floor consisted of white oak planks. Flood damage in 1913 resulted in several changes. The structure was raised by increasing the height of each abutment by three feet. In removing and replacing the siding and roof, the only major change was using sheet metal instead of shingles for the roof material. Heavy snow caused the 1943 sheet metal roof to collapse on December 20th, 1973; and the roof was replaced with shingles to match more closely the 1877 appearance. In 1976 steel barriers were erected at each entrance to limit traffic using the bridge. Other alterations have been restricted to painting and routine maintenance.
View from the southeast corner of the bridge (1975)
View from the southwest corner of the bridge (1975)
View of the bridge taken from the west (1975)
View from the northwest (1975)
