BlockFrom the record
One of 17 National Register listings published here for Ripley County · listed in 2019 · category: Structure · built in 1885, by Thomas A. Hardman.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Busching Covered Bridge
Built in 1885. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
- Address. E. Perry St./E Cty. Rd. 25 S at Laughery Cr., Versailles, 47042
- When was it listed? March 2019
- Category. structure
- Township. Johnson township
- When was it built? 1885
- Architect. Thomas A. Hardman
- National Register reference number. 100003509 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Fires near this property
1 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Busching Covered Bridge in 2004, burning under an acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 November 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge | SAR |
Mines and quarries near this property
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Busching Covered Bridge: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berry Materialsversailles Plntqy | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| South Eastern Materials Corp Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this property
56 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Versailles, the town this property stands in, in 56 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 27 thunderstorm wind, 15 flash flood, 8 hail, 5 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $75,000 | Numerous trees were downed, many of which fell across power lines and one of which fell across a vehicle. A barn was damaged and a dozen campers and mobile homes suffered significant damage with two being destroyed. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $50,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were downed across the northern and eastern portions of Ripley County. |
| April 2020 | Tornado (EF1) | Versailles | $50,000 | A brief tornado touched down on the southwest side of Versailles. Damage occurred to some homes and tree. A shopping center received damage to part of the roof. Also, some power poles were knocked down. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $50,000 | A tree was blown down onto a camper due to damaging thunderstorm winds. Three homes had extensive roof damage in addition to trees and power lines being reported down due to the winds. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $30,000 | Several barns were flattened in the 1300 block of S. Cave Road. Debris was scattered in nearby fields. Also, several nearby trees were knocked down. |
| February 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $20,000 | The wall of a dwelling partially collapsed and shingles were torn off of a roof due to thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $12,000 | A school sustained minor roof damage. Several trees were also downed. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $10,000 | Numerous trees were downed throughout Versailles State Park. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $10,000 | A portion of a silo was damaged along S. County Road 175 West. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $10,000 | A barn was destroyed along East County Road 200 South. A few trees were also downed. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $5,000 | Several trees were downed along U.S. Route 50. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $5,000 | Several large trees were downed. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Versailles | $5,000 | Several roads were flooded along US Route 50 between Holton and Versailles. |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $3,000 | A power pole was downed on U.S. 50. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $3,000 | Numerous trees were downed along US Route 421 between Osgood and Versailles. |
| February 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $3,000 | Several trees were knocked down. |
| June 2005 | Hail | Versailles | $3,000 | Trees were also downed along Cave Hill Road. |
| July 2001 | Flash Flood | Versailles | $3,000 | Heavy rainfall forced the closing of US 50. |
| April 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $2,000 | Large tree limbs were downed. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $2,000 | Two trees were knocked down in Versailles State Park. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Versailles | $2,000 | U.S. Route 50 east of Versailles was closed due to high water. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A tree was downed. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A large tree fell onto a roadway. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A tree was downed. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A tree was downed across U.S. 421 and West County Road 150 N. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A telephone pole was snapped in half. |
| March 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A tree was downed near Benham Road. |
| February 2018 | Flash Flood | Versailles | $1,000 | Multiple roads were closed throughout the county due to high water, specifically a vehicle stuck in high water on U.S. 50. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $1,000 | A car port was damaged on Hasmer Hill Road. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $200 | A small tree was downed near Versailles State Park. |
| July 2025 | Flood | Versailles | - | The road was flooded at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and North County Road 300 East. |
| June 2021 | Flood | Versailles | - | Standing water was reported on U.S. 50, near the intersection with State Route 129. |
| February 2019 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | One road was closed due to flooding. High water was reported on several other roads as well. |
| June 2018 | Flood | Versailles | - | High water was reported on U.S. 50 at Route 421, just west of Versailles. Also east of Versailles, high water was reported on the eastbound lane of U.S. 50. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Several large tree limbs were downed in the Versailles area. |
| May 2017 | Flood | Versailles | - | There were several reports of standing water in the Versailles area. |
| March 2017 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Water and debris were flowing across US 50 near Versailles State Park. |
| June 2017 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Water and debris were flowing across a road in Versaillles. |
| April 2017 | Flood | Versailles | - | High water was reported in several places along U.S. 50. |
| June 2016 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Flash Flooding was reported on Route 421 south of Osgood, as an estimated 1.5 feet of water was moving rapidly on 421. |
| March 2006 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | High water was reported over several roads across the eastern half of the county. This included State Route 62 near Friendship, and US Route 421 in Versailles. |
| June 2004 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | US Route 421 and Benham Road were flooded. |
| June 2004 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Several vehicles were stranded in high water. |
| June 2003 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Several roads were closed by high water. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | Several streets were flooded in town. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | There was high water on several roads in the southwest portion of the county. |
| October 2001 | Flash Flood | Versailles | - | High water was reported on area roadways. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| March 2010 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Hail | Versailles | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fernando G. Taylor House | 0.7 miles | 1986 |
 | Ripley County Courthouse | 0.8 miles | 2009 |
| Versailles Courthouse Square Historic District | 0.8 miles | 2024 | |
 | Tyson United Methodist Church | 0.9 miles | 1994 |
 | Versailles School and Tyson Auditorium | 1.0 miles | 2006 |
 | Milan Masonic Lodge No. 31 | 7.0 miles | 2013 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100003509 in Record Group 79. |
| Ripley County | All 17 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.