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Norris Ford, Rush 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/14-70-08
County: Rush County
Township: Jackson
Town/Village: Rushville
Bridge Name: Norris Ford
Crosses: Flat Rock River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 170' roofline, 154' floor
Roadway Width:
Built: 1916
Builder: Emmet L. Kennedy
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 39.324
Longitude: W085 24.570
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 3.2 miles north of In44 on IN3, then right 1.9 miles on CRW300N to the bridge.

Norris Ford Bridge, Jackson, Rush County, IN Built 1916
© Lisa Plamondon
Norris Ford Bridge, Jackson, Rush County, IN Built 1916
1916 Photo, Richard Sanders Allen Collection, NSPCB Archives

Norris Ford Bridge, Jackson, Rush County, IN Built 1916
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 25, 2015

Comments:
[16/21-14N-10E]. The Norris Ford Covered Bridge has a length of 154 feet, or 170 feet including the 8-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 16 feet wide by 14 feet high. Built in 1916 by Emmet L. Kennedy, this is the only Kennedy span with sixteen panels. The floor system consists of two layers of Oak deck supported on longitudinal stringers, which are supported by transverse floor beams, and trusses support the floor beams, all being constructed of Northern Pine. Named for the nearby farm of Oliver Norris, though no historical marker is present, the Norris Ford Covered Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. In 2000 the Allocation Plan of the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program provided $200,000, along with $55,000 from other sources, to be used for structural repairs.

Sources:
Ketcham, Bryan E.. Covered Bridges on the Byways of Indiana, 1949, page 195
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/rush2.htm
Travis, Dale. 'Indiana Covered Bridges List', updated to 11 Feb 2005, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbin.htm (8 Mar 2005)
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 28

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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