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Cumberland or New Cumberland, Grant County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: IN/14-27-01
County: Grant County
Township: Jefferson
Town/Village: Matthews
Bridge Name: Cumberland or New Cumberland
Crosses: Mississinewa River
Truss type: Howe
Spans: 1
Length: 175' floor, 183' roofline
Roadway Width:
Built: 1879
Builder: Smith Bridge Company
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 23.311
Longitude: W085 29.089
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.0 miles south of IN26 on CR950E, then 0.5 miles left on CR1000S, then 1.4 miles right on CR1000E (becomes 3rd St.). Southeast of edge of Matthews.

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
Dale J. Travis Photo

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
John V. Pontiere Jr Photo, Richard Donovan/Trish Kane Collection

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
Traugott Keller Photograph, April 27, 1963, NSPCB Archives

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
Greg McDuffee Photo, October 27, 2019

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 26, 2020

New Cumberland or Matthews Bridge, Jefferson, Grant County, IN Built 1879
Muncie Morning Star, April 9, 1913, page 10

Comments:
3-22N-9E. 16-panel truss. 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 which rotted in ten years. The Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio was awarded a contract on August 8, 1876, to construct an open Howe truss bridge. The company charged $18.50 per lineal foot to construct the bridge for the village of New Cumberland 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 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. On March 24, 1913, flood waters washed the structure about three- quarters of a mile downstream. Although the siding and roof had suffered considerable damage, the frame was sound. The county commissioners decided to bring it back to its foundation, and they awarded the contract to George Lemon of Marion, Indiana. After removal of the roof and siding, Lemon used a winch, rollers and a team of horses to return the bridge to its original site. At this time each abutment was raised by three feet, and the roof and siding were replaced. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 1978. Rebuilt 2000.

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 174
The Star Press (Muncie), July 3, 1936, p.5.
Gould, George E.. Indiana's Covered Bridges Thru the Years, 1977
County History Preservation Society (no longer accessible). Covered Bridges of Indiana, 2002, http://www.countyhistory.com/coveredbridge/grant.htm
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 17

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