Covered Bridge Pictures

Oregon Covered Bridges Crawfordville Bridge Currin Bridge Dorena Bridge Earnest Bridge Goodpasture Bridge Hannah Bridge Lowell Covered Bridge Unity Bridge Westfir Covered Bridge Covered Bridge Ceiling

The lure of covered bridges in today's culture is backed by a two hundred year history of construction and maintenance.

That history reminds us that the bridges of yesterday, like the bridges of today, serve a purpose. At the time of their construction, covered bridges not only provided a means for crossing a stream or river, they also provided a built in mechanism for protecting bridge structures in areas prone to bad weather.

Oregon's covered bridge history dates back to the pre-civil war days, when settlers built the bridges out of necessity. As the population grew and Oregon achieved statehood (1859), the prevalent industry of the day, forestry, worked hand in hand with the bridge builders.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, by 1925 approximately 450 covered bridges had been constructed. Many of those bridges performed their original function, and when they were no longer functionally useful, they were left to deteriorate.

By 1977, the number of covered bridged had been reduced to about the five dozen mark. Since then, most of those bridges have been renovated and maintained as a way to celebrate both their form and function.

This album provides a small sample of those bridges.