The Rush Creek Covered Bridge is south of Tangier, Indiana. The single-span Burr Arch-covered bridge structure was built by William Hendricks in 1904 and rehabilitated in 1977. The bridge's name is the same as the creek.

This is the first of three bridges that would be built by William Hendricks. The other two are the Wilkins Mill Covered Bridge, 1906, and the Mill Creek Covered Bridge, 1907. All three are of similar construction with very shallow portals. The foundation was made of cut stone.

Nearby Tangier was preceded by a grain warehouse built in 1855 by William B. Swaim. (Later it was operated by his son, S.B. Swaim, and burned in 1931.) The town was organized and platted on March 16, 1886, after the Brazil Division of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was built. The railroad passed the Rush Creek Covered Bridge. The railroad went bankrupt in 1921, was sold in 1922, was closed in 1941, and was scrapped in 1943.

The name Tangier was given by the town’s surveyor, Captain John T. Campbell. He may have chosen it as a result of his earlier visit to Tangier, Morocco, in Africa. Other names for the town include Long Siding, Liberty Crossing, Swaim’s Station, and even Sylvania.

The Post Office was open from 1886 to 1990. Other businesses and buildings included a flour mill, hardware store, hotel, three doctors, three groceries, implement store, harness shop, millinery shop, two barbers, two blacksmiths, a sawmill, a drug store, three churches, Odd Fellows Lodge, a canning factory, telephone company, depot, and schools.

The population of Tangier was reported as 300 in 1913, 300 in 1927, and 100 in 1990. As clay and coal mines closed jobs, the population decreased. Levees had been installed and the nearby Fairview Church moved because of the violent floods

Dimensions: Length of largest span: 76.1 ft.; total length: 96.1 ft.; deck width: 15.1 ft.; vertical clearance above deck: 11.8 ft.

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

Located at:  N39 53.928    W87 18.881     -     WGCB #14-61-31

Photographed in May 2022