The Cataract Falls Covered Bridge was constructed in December 1876 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, replacing an earlier bridge destroyed by a flood the previous year. Built with a Smith Type A (double-intersection Warren) truss, it represented an innovative prefabricated wooden bridge design that competed with the emerging use of iron in post–Civil War bridge construction. Components were manufactured in Toledo, shipped to Indiana, and assembled on-site over Mill Creek.
The bridge cost just over $3,600, including the abutments and superstructure, and was built using white pine supported by cut-stone abutments. It served the small milling community of Cataract, which had grown around the mills and falls that first attracted settlers to the area in the early nineteenth century.
The bridge remained in vehicular use for more than a century before being bypassed by a new span in 1988 and converted for pedestrian use within Cataract Falls State Recreation Area. Restoration and stabilization projects followed in 1995 and again in 2004, addressing structural sagging, replacing the floor system, and repairing truss and masonry components.
During the 2004 rehabilitation, the bridge was temporarily rolled onto dry ground to facilitate repairs before being returned to its original abutments. Recognized as the only surviving example of the Smith Type A truss in Indiana, the Cataract Falls Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 for its engineering and historical importance.
