Indiana's Smallest Covered Bridge and Its Drowning Legend
Edna Collings Bridge Rd, Greencastle, IN 46135
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit.
Access
Limited Access
Rural gravel road; creek access on uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1922 · Putnam County Covered Bridge Heritage · Indiana Rural Architecture
The Edna Collings Covered Bridge was built in 1922 by Charles Hendrix over Little Walnut Creek in Putnam County, Indiana — the last covered bridge constructed in the county and one of the final examples of the form built in the state. At 80 feet long with 8-foot overhangs at each end, it is the shortest covered bridge in Putnam County and is believed to be Indiana's smallest overall. It holds the additional distinction of being the only covered bridge in Indiana named after a woman.
The namesake, Edna Collings, was born on August 30, 1851. She was the matriarch of a family whose farm was located southwest of the crossing, and county commissioners appear to have followed the common practice of naming the bridge after the nearest family. Historical researchers from Putnam County's covered bridge documentation projects have found no record of a drowning at or near the bridge.
The bridge remains standing and accessible as a rural heritage site within Indiana's Covered Bridge Country tourism corridor, centered on Putnam County.
Sources
The legend of the Edna Collings bridge belongs to a specific subgenre of Indiana covered bridge folklore: the ritual summons, performed inside the enclosed space of the bridge itself. The sequence mirrors a parental pattern — drive in, stop, signal three times — and the presence that answers is a child.
The version of the legend most widely circulated gives the child a backstory: a girl who swam in Little Walnut Creek was called home by her parents honking three times at the bridge entrance each evening. One day, after repeated honking, only her dog returned. The parents followed it to the creek, where they found her body.
This is a structurally elegant piece of folklore. The repetition of the signal inverts the original act — parents calling a living child — into a visitor summoning something that no longer has a home to return to. Child-sized handprints on car windows have been reported by visitors who performed the ritual.
The problem is evidentiary. Putnam County historians have documented that the historical Edna Collings was born in 1851 — making her 71 years old at the bridge's 1922 construction date, not a swimming child. No drowning near the bridge appears in county records, obituaries, or news archives that researchers have located. The Putnam County Visitor's Bureau's own bridge guide notes the legend's historical inaccuracy.
What the legend documents is not a death but a community's attachment to a particular kind of story — the drowned child, the waiting parent, the bridge as threshold between worlds. Indiana has built this tradition across dozens of covered bridges. The Edna Collings bridge happens to be the smallest, and the legend fits its scale.
Notable Entities
Visit Indiana's smallest covered bridge, built in 1922 over Little Walnut Creek in Putnam County — the only covered bridge in Indiana named after a woman. The bridge is the destination for a ritual: drive into the covered bridge at night, shut off the engine, and honk three times. According to local legend, a child will appear and attempt to get in the car, leaving handprints on the windows.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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