Torched but Re-built: Whites Covered Bridge, Ionia County

It’s almost like visiting one of the New England states: Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut.....when you visit one of the small handfuls of covered bridges in Michigan.

Whites Covered Bridge is located in Belding on Whites Bridge Road.

The area where the bridge spans over the Flat River was known as White's Crossing before the first bridge was built. In 1840, a makeshift bridge made of logs was erected. Another 27 years later, a sturdier bridge – covered - was constructed at a cost of $1700.

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It was 1867, built by Jared Brazee and J.N. Walker, who were responsible for other area bridges. Upon completion, the bridge was named after one of the original settler families, the White family.

Reaching 120 feet long, Whites Bridge is located north of another covered bridge, the Fallasburg Bridge, south of Smyrna.

With no regard for history, and living in their own selfish world, some arsonists burned down the bridge in the early morning hours of July 7, 2013 (although never proven, the police closed the case as an act of arson). Approval for a replicated bridge occurred in July 2016, with construction completed in April 2020.

You can find Whites Bridge on North Whites Bridge Road, north of Richmond Road, south of Smyrna, east of Alton, and north of Fallasburg over Flat River in Ionia County.