Antelope Creek Bridge Explained

Antelope Creek Covered Bridge
Coordinates:42.472°N -122.8002°W
Built:1922[1] (1987)[2]
Builder:Lyle and Wes Hartman
Architecture:Queen post truss, modified
Added:2012 (1979)
Mpsub:Oregon Covered Bridges TR
Refnum:79002071

The Antelope Creek Bridge is a wooden covered bridge, 58feet long, spanning Little Butte Creek in Eagle Point in the U.S. state of Oregon. Constructed in 1922 by brothers Wes and Lyle Hartman, it originally spanned Antelope Creek, north of Medford.[3] Antelope Creek is a tributary of Little Butte Creek, which it enters about 2miles downstream of Eagle Point.[4] According to Oregon's Covered Bridges, at its original location the bridge carried "the old Medford – Crater Lake Road" over Antelope Creek.[5]

After a newer span replaced the bridge at its original location, it was no longer used by vehicles, and it deteriorated.[6] Even so, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1979.[3]

In 1987, to save the bridge, volunteers took it down and reassembled it over Little Butte Creek in Eagle Point.[7] Since then it has served as a pedestrian bridge[3] in Covered Bridge Park, adjacent to the veterans' memorial.[8]

In 1988, after its move to Eagle Point, the bridge was temporarily delisted because restoration work had created side windows that were not part of the original. In 2012, after correction of those alterations, the bridge was re-added to the NRHP.[3]

Notable features of the bridge include its queenpost truss modified by addition of a kingpost, its ribbon openings under the eaves, and its cantilevered buttresses.[6] The bridge has a cedar roof, semi-circular portals, and board siding without battens.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The Bridges in Our Own Back Yard . Eugene Register-Guard . July 8, 2001 . April 30, 2015 . Young. Amalie . 3H.
  2. Web site: Little Butte Creek (Antelope Creek) Covered Bridge. PDF. Oregon Department of Transportation. March 29, 2016.
  3. Web site: 2013 Oregon's Historic Bridge Field Guide: Antelope Creek, Pedestrian . PDF. Oregon State Library. 2013. 109. March 29, 2016.
  4. Web site: United States Topographic Map. United States Geological Survey. Acme Mapper. March 29, 2016.
  5. Book: Cockrell, Bill. Oregon's Covered Bridges. Arcadia Publishing. 2008. Charleston, S.C.. 65. 978-0-7385-5818-9.
  6. Book: Smith, Dwight A.. Norman, James B.. James B. Norman . Dykman, Pieter T.. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press. Portland. 2nd. 1989. 1986. 175. 0-87595-205-4.
  7. News: McKechnie. Ralph. Eagle Point Covered Bridge to Go Back on National Historic Register. Upper Rogue Independent. October 15, 2012. March 29, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160410215534/http://www.urindependent.com/2012/10/eagle-point-covered-bridge-to-go-back-on-national-historic-register/. April 10, 2016. dead.
  8. Web site: Covered Bridge Park. City of Eagle Point. March 29, 2016.