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Pass Creek Bridge |
Although the official date of construction of the current Pass Creek Bridge is listed as 1925, members of the Umpqua Historic Preservation Society attest the span was constructed in 1906. Mamie Krewson Mattoon, who was born in 1894, remembered a covered bridge over Pass Creek as a child.
"It was an old bridge at that time. Long before Drain had lights, we packed a lantern on dark nights when going through it. I rode through it in a hack drawn by two horses."
The original bridge at this site was built in the 1870s along the Overland Stage Route, as Drain was an important junction which linked the Willamette Valley and Jacksonville. A 1895 era photograph shows the wagon bridge and adjacent railroad bridge, both being covered. The wooden rail span was replaced soon afterward.
Old timers recall the Pass Creek Bridge provided excitement when a horse drawn wagon crashed through the floor around 1920 while hauling supplies for a Thanksgiving turkey shoot.
