Oregon has about 50 covered bridges, about one sixth the number of Pennsylvania, the state with the largest number. Among Oregon's covered bridges, Jackson County has three, all within an hour's drive of downtown Medford. A fourth bridge, in Wimer, collapsed on July 6, 2003. Fund-raising is under way to replace it.
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| Location: | Main Street and Royal Avenue, Eagle Point |
| Span: | 58' across Little Butte Creek |
| Truss: | Queenpost (modified by Kingpost bracing) |
| Original Construction: | 1922, closed in 1970s. |
| Relocated: | 1987 from Antelope Creek to Eagle Point about 10 miles to the north. |
| World Guide #: | 37-15-02 |
| Comment: | Open to pedestrians and bicyclists. Portals were cut to provide light for school children. This alteration caused the bridge to be removed from the National Register of Historic Places. More recent alterations to the bridge sidings match the construction in in historic photographs. |
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| Location: | Lost Creek (Lost Creek Road off South Fork Little Butte Road) |
| Span: | 39' across Lost Creek |
| Truss: | Queenpost (modified X reinforcing) |
| Original Construction: | The Southern Oregon Historical Society states this bridge was built in 1919, but local residents maintain a covered bridge was built between 1874-1881, making it Oregon's oldest bridge. |
| Relocated: | None |
| World Guide #: | 37-15-03 |
| Comment: | Open to pedestrians; Johnny Miller, builder of the Lost Creek Bridge, re-roofed the nearby Lake Creek Bridge in the 1880s. Workers in 1987 reinstalled new portals removed in 1919 "to allow log trucks to go through without destroying the cover" suggesting the bridge was rebuilt in 1919. The span is the shortest of a roadway bridge in the state. |
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McKee Bridge: Highest elevation above water of an Oregon covered bridge (85'). Southernmost Oregon covered bridges (eight miles from California border). |
| Location: | Off Applegate Road (about eight miles south of Highway 238 from Ruch) |
| Span: | 122' across Applegate River |
| Truss: | Howe |
| Original Construction: | 1917 by Jason Hartman Co. of Jacksonville |
| Relocated: | None, bridge closed to vehicles in 1956. |
| World Guide #: | 37-15-06 |
| Comment: | Open to pedestrians (1990-95), renovated and reopened in 1995. |
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| Location: | 7 miles northeast of Rogue River on East Evans Creek Road (turn right on Covered Bridge Road in community of Wimer) |
| Span: | 85' across Evans Creek |
| Truss: | Queenpost (dual) |
| Original Construction: | 1927 by Jason Hartman Co. of Jacksonville |
| Relocated: | None, bridge closed in 1970s, reopened in 1986. |
| World Guide #: | 37-15-05 |
| Comment: | There may have been a bridge in this location as early as 1892; present structure was built in 1927 under contract to Jackson County, but collapsed in July 2003. Plans are currently under way to replace the structure at a cost of nearly $900,000. Visit web site |
Last updated on July 19, 2005 © 1997-2005
