McKee Bridge

Last updated
McKee Bridge
McKee Covered Bridge (Jackson County, Oregon scenic images) (jacDA0033).jpg
McKee Bridge over the Applegate River
USA Oregon location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the bridge in Jackson County, Oregon
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
McKee Bridge (the United States)
Coordinates 42°07′33.0″N123°04′21.2″W / 42.125833°N 123.072556°W / 42.125833; -123.072556 Coordinates: 42°07′33.0″N123°04′21.2″W / 42.125833°N 123.072556°W / 42.125833; -123.072556
Built1917
ArchitectJason Hartman
Architectural style Howe truss
MPS Oregon Covered Bridges TR
NRHP reference No. 79002074
ListedNovember 29, 1979

The McKee Bridge is a covered bridge in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Oregon. [1] Built on land donated by Adelbert (Deb) McKee, a stage station operator, the bridge originally carried a road over the Applegate River that linked the Blue Ledge Copper Mine to Jacksonville. The site originally included an ore-hauler rest stop, about halfway between the mine and the city, where relief horses were stationed. [2] The bridge, about 30 miles (48 km) north of the California border, carried mining and logging traffic from the year of its construction, 1917, through 1956. [1] An unincorporated community, McKee Bridge, is near the bridge. [3]

Contents

Since 1956, area residents, assisted at times by government funding, have maintained the bridge, which is used by pedestrians but not by motor vehicles. [1] McKee Picnic Ground in the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest is at the west end of the bridge along the river. [2] The picnic ground and bridge are about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) south of Ruch along Applegate Road. [1]

The McKee Bridge Historical Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining the pedestrian bridge, lists the height of the bridge at 45 feet (14 m), which makes it the highest of the four remaining covered bridges in Jackson County. It is also the longest and oldest of the four. [4]

Closed completely for three years because of rot in structural components as well as damage to the roof, the bridge reopened in June 2015 after major renovations. Grants totaling about $600,000 from the Federal Highway Administration, supplemented by matching funds of about $60,000 raised by the McKee Bridge Historical Society, paid for the project. [5] Mowat Construction Company of Woodinville, Washington, carried out the rehabilitation. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Johns Bridge</span> Bridge in Portland, Oregon

The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, between the Cathedral Park neighborhood in North Portland and the Linnton and Northwest Industrial neighborhoods in Northwest Portland. It carries the U.S. Route 30 Bypass. It is the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Island Bridge</span> Bridge in Portland, Oregon

The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It carries U.S. Route 26 across the river between southwest and southeast Portland. The bridge opened in 1926 and was designed by Gustav Lindenthal and honors Oregon pioneer Sherry Ross. It is named for its proximity to Ross Island. Although it looks like a deck arch bridge, it is a cantilever deck truss bridge, a rare type in Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon City Bridge</span> Bridge in Oregon, United States

The Oregon City Bridge, also known as the Arch Bridge, is a steel through arch bridge spanning the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1922, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built and is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) as part of Oregon Route 43 and is the third-southernmost Willamette bridge in the Portland metropolitan area, after the Boone Bridge in Wilsonville and the Oregon 219 bridge near Newberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barlow Road</span> Historic road in Oregon

The Barlow Road is a historic road in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, with authorization of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, and served as the last overland segment of the Oregon Trail. Its construction allowed covered wagons to cross the Cascade Range and reach the Willamette Valley, which had previously been nearly impossible. Even so, it was by far the most harrowing 100 miles (160 km) of the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200 km) Oregon Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crow, Oregon</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States

Crow is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Applegate River</span> River in Oregon, United States of America

The Applegate River is a 51-mile (82 km)-long tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains approximately 698 square miles (1,810 km2). Rising in northern California, it soon crosses the border and flows northeast then northwest to meet the Rogue about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Grants Pass. It drains forested foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains along the Oregon–California border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruch, Oregon</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States

Ruch is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It is located on Oregon Route 238, southeast of Grants Pass. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 840.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Creek Bridge</span> United States historic place

The Lost Creek Bridge is a covered bridge near the unincorporated community of Lake Creek, in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The site is about 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast of Medford. At 39 feet (12 m) long, the structure is the shortest covered bridge in Oregon. It carries Lost Creek Road over Lost Creek, a tributary of Little Butte Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Applegate Lake</span> Body of water

Applegate Lake is a 988-acre (400 ha) reservoir located in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest about 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Medford in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is 16 miles (26 km) south of Oregon Route 238 along Applegate River Road and slightly north of the Oregon–California border. The lake is an impoundment of the Applegate River about 46 miles (74 km) from its confluence with the Rogue River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 5 in Oregon</span> Interstate highway in Oregon

Interstate 5 (I-5) in the U.S. state of Oregon is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from north to south. It travels to the west of the Cascade Mountains, connecting Portland to Salem, Eugene, Medford, and other major cities in the Willamette Valley and across the northern Siskiyou Mountains. The highway runs 308 miles (496 km) from the California state line near Ashland to the Washington state line in northern Portland, forming the central part of Interstate 5's route between Mexico and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Blenheim Bridge</span> Wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York, United States

Old Blenheim Bridge was a wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York, United States. With an open span of 210 feet (64 m), it had the second longest span of any surviving single-span covered bridge in the world. The 1862 Bridgeport Covered Bridge in Nevada County, California, currently undergoing repairs due to 1986 flooding is longer overall at 233 feet (71 m) but is argued to have a 208 feet (63 m) clear span. The bridge, opened in 1855, was also one of the oldest of its type in the United States. It was destroyed by flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Rebuilding of the bridge commenced in 2017 and was completed in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salmon Creek (Clark County, Washington)</span> River in Washington, United States

Salmon Creek is a 26-mile (42 km) tributary of Lake River in Clark County in the U.S. state of Washington. Beginning from its forested headwaters on Elkhorn Mountain, Salmon Creek passes through rural, agricultural, residential, and urban areas before flowing into the river just north of Vancouver Lake. Lake River is a tributary of the Columbia River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKee Bridge, Oregon</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States

McKee Bridge is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies south of Ruch along Upper Applegate Road off Oregon Route 238. The Applegate River flows by the community, in the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Railway and Navigation Company Bridge</span> United States historic place

The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company Bridge is a railroad bridge in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it formerly carried the tracks of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company over the McKenzie River southeast of Coburg. It has since become a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. The Whipple through truss bridge, resting on concrete supports, is 405 feet (123 m) long, 25 feet (7.6 m) wide, and 44 feet (13 m) high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse Creek Bridge (McKenzie Bridge, Oregon)</span> United States historic place

The Horse Creek Bridge was a covered bridge near the unincorporated community of McKenzie Bridge in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Built in 1930, the structure, 105 feet (32 m) long, carried Horse Creek Road over Horse Creek. The creek is a tributary of the McKenzie River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drift Creek Bridge</span> United States historic place

The Drift Creek Bridge is a covered bridge in Lincoln County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Built in 1914, the structure originally carried Drift Creek County Road over Drift Creek. The creek flows into Siletz Bay of the Pacific Ocean south of Lincoln City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritner Creek</span> River in Oregon, United States

Ritner Creek is a tributary of the Luckiamute River in Polk County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The creek begins near Bald Mountain in the Central Oregon Coast Range and flows generally southeast to meet the Luckiamute southwest of Pedee and north of Kings Valley. The confluence is 31 miles (50 km) upstream of the Luckiamute's mouth on the Willamette River. Named tributaries of Ritner Creek from source to mouth are Sheythe, Love, Clayton, and Kinsey creeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pass Creek Bridge</span> Bridge in Oregon, United States

Pass Creek Bridge is a covered bridge in the city of Drain in Douglas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It originally carried stagecoaches over Pass Creek before being moved a few hundred feet from its original location in 1987 and reassembled behind the Drain Civic Center. From then through 2014, when the city closed the deteriorating bridge completely, it carried pedestrian traffic. Pass Creek is a tributary of Elk Creek in the Umpqua River basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pass Creek (Elk Creek tributary)</span> River in Oregon, United States

Pass Creek is a tributary of Elk Creek in the Umpqua River basin of the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins at Divide between the Coast Fork Willamette River watershed and the Umpqua watershed along Interstate 5 (I-5) in Lane County. It flows west into Douglas County and continues generally southwest to meet Elk Creek at the city of Drain, 24 miles (39 km) upstream of Elk Creek's confluence with the Umpqua.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Applegate River (McKee) Covered Bridge" (PDF). Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Smith, Dwight A.; Norman, James B.; Dykman, Pieter T. (1989) [1986]. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon (2nd ed.). Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 167. ISBN   0-87595-205-4.
  3. "McKee Bridge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 1, 1991. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  4. "McKee Bridge Historical Society". McKee Bridge Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  5. "Special Notices". McKee Bridge Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  6. Domis, J. (October 3, 2014). "McKee Covered Bridge Rehabilitation Project". Jackson County, Oregon. Retrieved January 21, 2016.