Covered
Bridges Of
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Cottage Grove
has earned the title as the "Covered Bridge Capital of the
West." There are six beautiful Covered Bridges within a few
minutes of downtown.
Building dates
of the bridges range from 1920 to1987. In the earlier days of construction,
steel and concrete was hard to come by and since timber was more
accessible, the bridges were built from locally-cut timber and then
covered to keep the rain from aging them. The older bridges are
a standing testimony to the skilled craftsmen living in the area.
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Chambers
Railroad Bridge
About
a half a mile from Main Street on South River Road,
just past Harrison Avenue, this bridge is the only remaining
covered railroad bridge in Oregon. It was built in 1925
to bring logs to the J.H. Chambers Mill in Cottage Grove.
The bridge is 78 feet long.
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Stewart
Bridge
This
60 foot bridge, built in 1930, is located on Garoutte
Road. It was open to vehicular traffic until 1982, despite
heavy damage. It has been restored and is now a pedestrian
bridge.
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Dorena
Bridge
Located
on the south side of Dorena Reservoir on Shoreside Drive,
Dorena Bridge was built to connect Government Road and
Row River Road. Constructed in 1949 for $16,547, the
105 foot long bridge has been since bypassed with a
concrete span.
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Centennial
Bridge
Located
in downtown Cottage Grove at the corner of Main Street
and River Road, this pedestrian bridge was built in
1987 with recycled timbers that were salvaged when the
Burmbaugh Bridge was dismantled. Adjacent to the bridge
in the City Hall building, a scale model of the Currin
Bridge, shown at the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver,
B.C., is on display.
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Currin
Bridge
The
Currin covered bridge was origionally built in 1925
and was rehabilitated in 1995. It is located on Layng
Road and spans 60-feet across the Row River. The Currin
Bridge is now open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic
only.
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Mosby
Creek Bridge
The
Mosby Creek bridge, also on Layng Road, was named after
David Mosby, a pioneer who staked a donation land claim
nearby in 1853. Built in 1920 for $4,125, the 90 foot
span is the oldest surviving covered bridge in Lane
County, and the only local covered bridge open to traffic.
The Mosby Creek bridge was restored in 1990.
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Lane County,
Oregon was the first Oregon county to build covered bridges on a
large scale and currently maintains more than any other county west
of the Mississippi.
The surrounding
areas of Cottage Grove (Lane County) have a total of 20 covered
bridges that can be toured on any given day! Sixteen of them are
listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Fourteen are
still open to traffic of some sort.
Here are the
names of the other covered bridges located in Lane County: Goodpasture,
Lake Creek, Deadwood, Coyote Creek, Earnest, Belknap, Lowell, Wendling,
Wildcat Creek, Pengra, Parvin, Cannon St., Unity, and the Office
Bridge.
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