The Shieldstown Covered Bridge is old! It carried traffic for over 100 years, until it was bypassed in the late 1970’s. Although it is quite literally falling apart, I have great hope the help is on the way. BRIDGEFACTS Year Opened: 1876 Builder: Joseph J. Daniels Length: 331 feet(355 feet including the 12-foot approaches at each end) Width: 12.5 feet Truss type: Burr Arch Truss(double span) Crosses: East Fork of White River Notes: The road was rerouted to bypassed this structure in 1977. ‘Save Our Jackson County Covered Bridges’ is an organization established by the Jackson County Parks & Recreation Dept and the J/C Visitors & Convention Bureau. It is largely responsible for raising funds to restore and protect county bridges. Shieldstown and Medora are the last two covered bridge remaining in this Indiana county. Medora has already been beautifully restored(see review): However, as of October 2014 there were no visible renovations detectable to the eyes of this covered bridge fan. If anything, the renovations made in the 1980’s were long deteriorated and the bridge itself looks as though it needs to be condemned… like yesterday! Near the entrance on the east side of the bridge is a monument to James Aldred Cash(June 1934 — November ’08). The inscription on the bench interestingly reads: «Dad always said if your gonna be stupid you better be tough.» It looks like it is part of the bridge property but in fact it’s on land directly adjacent to the bridge, so finding out what it means has been difficult. But I promise I’ll update this review as soon as I discover it’s meaning. For now, the best I can figure is it references this song by Roger Allan Wade — FINALTHOUGHTS A gorgeous piece of history that I am certain the county and state will soon bring back to its former glory. Indiana seems to be very proud of its collection of covered bridges, mostly scattered throughout the central and southern parts of the state. I look forward to a return visit when renovations are complete. Be sure to check out the Covered Bridge Loop, a route that highlights 9 historic bridges around the state:
