Union Covered Bridge spans the Elk Fork of the Salt River in Missouri and is one of the state’s most distinctive surviving covered bridges. Authorized in 1870 after two earlier bridges at the crossing failed, it was built by Joseph Elliott in 1871 from local oak and named for nearby Union Church. Its greatest significance lies in its design: it is Missouri’s only surviving covered bridge built as a Burr-arch truss. Repeatedly threatened by flood damage and neglect, it was saved through local and state preservation efforts, repaired several times, and remains a historic site sometimes used for community ceremonies.