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About The Chronicle : Creswell & Cottage Grove. (Creswell, Ore.) 2019-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2019)
10 — THE CHRONICLE COTTAGE GROVE The fi rst Cottage Grove “Swinging Bridge,” circa 1925. PHOTO PROVIDED/COTTAGE GROVE HISTORICAL MUSEUM What’s in a name? T h e C ot t a ge rebuilt. J.P. Currin G rove Cit y superintended the Council is work of construc- in a funny posi- tion.” t ion i n d e a l i ng T h i s J. P o l k with a “new” old Cur rin whose bridge with a hazy DANA MERRYDAY name was attached na m i ng h istor y. to the bridge, and Their job is now to who made sure the agree on an official name bridge at the new loca- to what everyone calls the tion went in right, was a “Swinging Bridge.” pioneer druggist and also It has crossed the Coast a regular town busybody. Fork of the Willamette Besides running his drug- for 119 years. Connecting store on the west bank Madison Avenue on the of the river in Slabtown, east bank to River Road he was involved in early on the west, this bridge Cottage Grove education, was relocated downstream set up a park and, probably to its present location in without permission, built a 1917. The Cottage Grove footbridge across the river S e n t i n e l d o c u m e n t e d in 1900. a d esig n cha nge t hat An issue of the Bohemia gave rise to the moniker Nu g g e t of t h a t ye a r “Swinging Bridge.” contains a shor t piece In the Oct. 18, 1917 stating that Cur rin had edition, under the head- built a bridge connecting ing “Currin Foot Bridge his drugstore to the park is Suspension Type” is the across the river bearing following account: “The his name. Old postcards work of reconstr ucting show this first version as a the Currin foot bridge on wooden trestle bridge with the south side has been nary a swing to it. completed. The bridge was Starting in 1909, arti- moved to a point directly cles littered The Sentinel in front of the L.S. Hill and Cottage Grove Leader property and was changed with tales of closures and to the suspension type of committee meetings deal- str ucture. It is thought ing with an unsafe bridge. that this will be much Bei ng u nc ove r e d a nd more permanent than the exposed to the elements regular type of bridge, there was nothing prevent- which had frequently to be ing the wooden br idge from rotting out, leading to repeated repairs. The move downstream and the change to the suspension design were viewed as a solution to this maintenance prob- lem. And by suspension we aren’t talking about overhead suspender cables holding the decking, but rather two t aut cables covered with boards and some handrails. I believe that is when the “swing- i ng” ter m entered t he conversation. Fast-forward through at least three other versions of suspension bridges to December, 1964, when Cottage Grove and the rest of Oregon was settling in for Christmas and the floodwaters began to rise. A deep snowfall followed by a warm, two-week rain deluge sent so much water into the rivers that the dams, even with the flood- gates wide open, couldn’t do much. Besides houses, br idges and crops, the holiday-dampening flood- waters swept away the then-version of the Currin suspension footbridge. A nu mb er of lo ca ls tell discreetly of certain neighborhood kids who, in a youthful act of adven- t u re, were out on t he br idge bouncing it off r t h e D u c k Ga o f t h g i N y a Frid October 11, 5 p.m. me SMOKED TRI TIP Garlic Mashed $ Potatoes 15 Bacon Green Beans • 1 3 N. • 002 2 Front - 5 Street Creswell • 541-89 the f lood-stage waters when one bounce too deep allowed the current to grab the bridge and tear it from its moorings. Luckily the perpetrators were able to escape with their lives, even as the bridge was swept downstream. T h e n - c it y e ng i n e e r, Roger Sinclair, designed the replacement br idge and local contractor Carl Rich built it in time for a grand opening during the 1965 Bohem ia M i n i ng Days. The City Council officially named it after the original builder and creator, J.P. Currin and directed the Prospectors & Gold Diggers to attend to the opening. T hat br idge held up THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 pretty well with a few repairs over the years, but after 51 years its luck ran out. A routine inspection turned up that old enemy, rot, a nd t he recu r r ing theme of Currin Bridge closure for safety reasons came back to haunt us. Now, three years later, work is wrapping up on yet another footbridge and this time it is being built to last. Steel towers that will rust, giving it both a protective coating and a wood-like patina, and marine-grade decking will ensure that we won’t be doing any rebuilds in our lifetimes. The design team of the Ausland Group, some of whom worked on our Chambers Railroad Bridge, listened to citi- zen concerns about how important it was that the bridge look and especially “feel” like the one we are used to. After poring over city records, the naming issue was looked into and as a result, also considered is the existence of another bridge in the area bear- ing the name Currin: a covered bridge. The issue was brought before the City Council at its Sept. 23 meeting without an agree- ment being reached. It was decided to pursue a three- pronged research process: contact the Cottage Grove H istor ica l Societ y for input; investigate if there are any Cur rin descen- dants still in the area; and lastly, seek suggestions from the public. That is where you read- ers come in. Here are four ways that you suggest a name for the bridge: 1.) you can fill out a form at City Hall; 2.) you can use the online survey at https://www.surveymon- key.com /r/2Z SM W W7; 3.) you can contact your ward’s city councilor or either or both of the two at-large city councilors; or 4.) show up at 7 p.m. next Monday, Oct. 14 at City Hall to voice your sugges- tion in public. Rega rdless of the Council’s decision, it’s just an official name that will go on the dedica- tion plaque and on maps. Chances are that every- one will still refer to it as the “Swinging Bridge” rega rdless of any offi- cial naming. But it is still fun to bandy about lots of ideas and to reflect on over 100 years of history beg un by M r. J. Pol k Currin when he decided to build a pedestrian bridge to connect two sides of Cottage Grove. — — — — — Dana Merryday is a Chronicle contributor and can be reached at 541-942- 7037 and dana_merryday@ yahoo.com.
