Skip to main content

Earnest Covered Bridge - Oregon

Image
By

 


The Earnest Covered Bridge is one of many covered bridges in Lane County, Oregon. Located off of the Marcola Road on Paschelke Road, just north of the town of Marcola, the Earnest Bridge is a Howe truss designed covered bridge. The bridge crosses the Mohawk River and is 137 feet in length and its largest span is 75 feet long. The Earnest Covered Bridge is the second covered bridge to be at this location, as it replaced the Adams Bridge that was first built by A.N. Striker in 1903. Eventually the Adams Bridge became dilapidated, so it was torn down and replaced with the Earnest Bridge by Lane County in 1939 for $2,449, which included the cost of demolishing the old bridge. It is believed that the new covered bridge was named Earnest after local area residents, but there is not much more information about the bridge's name than that. There is a discrepancy in the name spelling. Some documents have the spelling as "Ernest," including its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but the bridge itself and many others are labeled "Earnest."

Like many covered bridges that were built in Lane County, the Earnest Covered Bridge features a design element of a small window on one side for motorists to view oncoming traffic. At one time circus posters lined the bridge's interior, but those have been removed or disintegrated with time. The Earnest Covered Bridge also appeared in the 1965 movie "Shenandoah", which starred James Stewart. The film company altered the bridge to meld with a Civil War era look and, then post filming, restored the bridge to its original condition along with new siding and paint. The Earnest Covered Bridge is also a beautiful picnic location with a small area for roadside parking, which can attract day trippers and plein air painters. I bet there have been some beautiful paintings created of this bridge. I visited the bridge during my own day trip around Lane County during one of my visits to Oregon. It was certainly worth the stop.









How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Bridgehunter.com - Earnest Covered Bridge 37-20-35
Oregon.com - Mohawk River (Earnest) Covered Bridge
Eugene Cascades & Coast - Earnest Covered Bridge
Travel Oregon - Earnest Bridge
Pacific Northwest Photoblog - Earnest Covered Bridge, Oregon
Oregon Department of Transportation - Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon (PDF)

Labels:
Location: Earnest Bridge, 93255 Paschelke Rd, Marcola, OR 97454, USA

Comments

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

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more