Skip to main content

Chitwood Covered Bridge

Image
By
Built in 1926, the Chitwood Covered Bridge is meant to link travelers from an historic alignment of US Highway 20 to the once bustling town of Chitwood. Visible from the old main road between Corvallis and Newport, this bridge is one of the few remaining landmarks of the former Corvallis and Eastern Railroad stop.

At 96 foot long, the Chitwood Covered Bridge is actually the third bridge at this site, with the original bridge having been built in 1893 and a second bridge being built in 1904. But with the wet weather that is often seen in western Oregon, it was determined that a covered bridge would best serve the crossing over the Lower Yaquina River. The covered bridge was restored in 1984 and again in 2014. The Chitwood Covered Bridge is of a Howe Truss design, and features the barn red color, flared sides and semi-elliptical portal arches that are typical of covered bridges found in Lincoln County, Oregon. It is still passable by motorized traffic as well, serving what remains of Chitwood.

Not much goes on in Chitwood anymore. The Chitwood Covered Bridge was once surrounded by several stores, a post office, and several homes. Logging in the area once boomed enough to support not only the stores, but also the Chitwood Dance Hall. Chitwood also became an important rail stop for the steam locomotives traveling from Yaquina to Corvallis, as this was the town where the train engines took on water and fuel, as well as passengers and freight. However, time passed the town by, and after a couple of World Wars, Chitwood became a shell of its former self, with just the covered bridge and a few houses remaining today.






How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
The Covered Bridge Society of Oregon - Chitwood Covered Bridge
Lincoln County, Oregon - Chitwood Bridge
Scenic USA - Oregon - Chitwood Covered Bridge
My South Lane - Chitwood, Oregon
GhostTowns.org - Chitwood

Labels:
Location: Yaquina River Chitwood Covered Bridge, 51 Chitwood Rd, Toledo, OR 97391, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 156

By
Over the past couple years I've taken about every single conceivable noteworthy road in and out of the California Coast as far south as Malibu northward towards Point Reyes.  Generally I try to avoid the more popular routes due to the high traffic capacity which often overwhelms existing highways.  That being the case I've often found myself in need of getting to the Monterey Peninsula from San Joaquin Valley in a hurry which often means a trip on California State Route 156.   CA 156 is a 25 mile route from CA 152 in Santa Clara County west to CA 1 near the mouth of the Salinas River in Castroville of Monterey County. Part 1; the history of California State Route 156 All of modern CA 156 was part of Legislative Route 22 .   LRN 22 was defined during the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act between as a route between San Juan Bautista and Hollister.  During the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act LRN 22 was extended east from Hollister to the Pachec...
Post a Comment
Read more