Seeing Red

Covered bridges are an Indiana icon, so it’s no surprise the state’s new license plate design features a red covered bridge. Ripley County boasts two spans that could have served as picturesque inspiration.

The Busching Covered Bridge near Versailles State Park and the Otter Creek Covered Bridge just outside of Holton are nearly twins, with elongated horizontal windows and classic red paint.

Of the two, Otter Creek is the older and shorter. Built in 1884, it spans almost 113 feet across its namesake creek. Though its days of carrying vehicles over the creek are done – it was closed to cars in 1996 – it is still open to pedestrians.

Construction began a year later on the 182-foot-long Busching Covered Bridge over Laughery Creek, adjacent to what is now Versailles State Park. Built using a Howe truss design, the Busching bridge remains in one-lane use today. It was the subject of a Historic American Engineering Record study – a federal program initiated in 1969 to document important historic structures and objects including boats, canals, and bridges.

Busching Bridge, Ripley County

Though both are eligible, neither bridge is currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Using a grant from the Central Indiana Community Foundation’s Efroymson Family Fund, Indiana Landmarks and the Ripley County Tourism Bureau have partnered to nominate both covered bridges and Friendship’s four-arch stone bridge to the National Register.

All three bridges are photogenic in any season, so snap some pictures. Be sure to share by tagging us on social media. You can find GPS addresses for all three in this brochure, so get out and explore!