The Sim Smith Covered Bridge is east of Montezuma in Parke County, Indiana. The single-span Burr Truss-covered bridge structure was built by Joseph A. Britton in 1883 and is 101 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 14 feet high. It was rehabilitated in 1977.

Sim Smith Bridge was named for a nearby landowner at the time, Simeon Smith. It crosses Leatherwood Creek, which gives it the lesser-known name "Leatherwood Ford."

This was J.A. Britton’s third Parke County Bridge. The arch of the Sim Smith bridge is composed of incompletely cut segments. It has one "Britton Portal" and one "Daniels Portal;" Joseph A. Britton originally built it with his trademark openings, but the North end was modified into the "Daniels Arched Portal" in a later repair. When US 36 was surveyed in the 1920s, the Sim Smith Bridge was saved by the rerouting of the highway.

Still in use, this bridge has a reputation for being haunted. In one story from circa 1890, travelers waited on one side of the bridge for the horse and buggy they heard approaching from the other side. However, the buggy never appeared, and could not be spotted despite the travelers leaving their own buggy to search.

In another story, two high school students investigated the haunting claims and, at first, found nothing more than a glow-worm. Then on the other side of the bridge, they both saw a Native American woman carrying a papoose. They ran to their car, but when they drove across the bridge, she was gone.

Parke County is the home of the nation's largest Covered Bridge Festival. Established in 1821 and named in honor of the first territorial delegate to Congress, Benjamin Parke, this county is located in West Central Indiana and Rockville is the County Seat.

Parke County originally had fifty-seven known covered bridges plus one it shared with Vermillion County to its west. Today it has thirty bridges remaining.

Dimensions:  Length of largest span: 81 ft.;  total length: 102 ft.;  deck width: 15.4 ft.;  vertical clearance above deck: 12.5 ft.

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1978.

Located at:  N39 46.415    W87 19.872     -     WGCB 14-61-14

Photographed in May 2022