Skip to main content

Ritner Creek Covered Bridge - Oregon

Image
By

Built in 1927 at a cost of $6,964, the 75 foot long Ritner Creek Covered Bridge alongside OR 223 near Pedee in Polk County, Oregon was the last covered bridge to be located on an Oregon state highway. Ritner Creek Bridge and Ritner Creek were named for pioneer Sebastian Ritner, who arrived in Oregon in 1845. At the time the Ritner Creek Bridge was built, there were about 450 covered bridges in Oregon. The bridge was built by Hamar and Curry, and during Charles Otis Hamar’s career, he was builder or contractor for many Howe Truss covered bridge structures such as the Ritner Creek Bridge, Five Rivers Fisher School Bridge on the Alsea River, Chitwood Bridge on Mary’s River, North Fork Yachats River Bridge and Drift Creek Bridge.

The Ritner Creek Covered Bridge almost became a memory in 1974. Declared structurally unsafe, it was scheduled for removal. The children of Pedee School along with the citizens in the Pedee area rallied to its support with a "Save our Bridge" campaign. The Polk County commissioners met with the state highway department and as a result the issue was placed on the ballot May 28, 1974. The measure passed and the covered bridge was lifted from its foundation and relocated just downstream of its original site to an adjacent site at the new Minnie Ritner Ruiter Wayside in 1976 at the cost of $26,031. The new concrete bridge on OR 223 parallels the Ritner Creek Bridge.
Plaque inside the bridge that gives a little history of the Ritner Creek Bridge.

A nice side angle of the bridge.
The inside of the bridge is quite spacious.

The modern concrete bridge over the Ritner Creek on OR 223 is next to the covered bridge.

Side angle view of the bridge.

Looking inside to the Ritner Creek Bridge.

View of the bridge from the north side of the creek.

A nice parting shot of the Ritner Creek Bridge.


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Ride With GPS - Western Valley: Ritner Creek Covered Bridge
Ritner Creek Covered Bridge - History of Ritner Creek Bridge
Polk County, Oregon - Ritner Creek Bridge
Oregon.com - Ritner Creek Covered Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - Ritner Creek Covered Bridge 37-27-01
Labels:
Location: Ritner Creek Bridge, Monmouth, OR 97361, USA

Comments

Old Scout said…
Would you have any connection to a camera operator for the Jesse Stone series DAVID GRIBBLE


12:03 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mormon Emigrant Trail (Emergency US Route 50 Alternate)

By
Mormon Emigrant Trail is an approximately 24.5-mile portion of the original routing of the Carson Pass Highway in Eldorado National Forest.  Mormon Emigrant Trail begins at California State Route 88 near Alder Hill and extends westward to Eldorado County Route J16 at Sly Park Road.   Carson Pass was a known crossing of the Sierra Nevada by the Washoe and was surveyed in an 1844 expedition led by John C. Fremont.  The Carson Pass Highway was plotted as a wagon road by the Mormon Battalion in 1848 and was once the primary crossing of the Sierra Nevada.  By the 1880s the Carson Pass Highway had several spurs with the primary traffic corridor being rerouted to Jackson.  The original routing towards Placerville would come to be known as Morman Emigrant Trail and became part of Eldorado National Forest in 1910.  Morman Emigrant Trail is part of Forest Road 10N50 and Eldorado National Forest Route 5.  Despite being a seasonally maintained roadway corrido...
1 comment
Read more