Pengra Covered Bridge

The Pengra Bridge crosses Fall Creek near the small community of Jasper, east of Springfield, and takes its name from the nearby former townsite of Pengra. Built in 1938 as part of Lane County's extensive Depression-era covered bridge program, the 120-foot Howe truss span was constructed to serve rural and timber traffic moving through the Fall Creek valley toward the larger Willamette River communities. The surrounding area later saw significant change with the construction of Fall Creek Dam and Reservoir in the early 1960s for flood control, which reshaped much of the watershed the bridge serves, though the bridge itself sits downstream of the reservoir's direct footprint. Built using the standard Lane County design of the period, with weatherboard siding and a shingled gable roof over a wooden truss, the bridge has required periodic maintenance typical of the county's aging covered bridge inventory. Added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979, the Pengra Bridge remains open to vehicle traffic and continues to serve as a functional rural crossing as well as a stop for visitors touring Lane County's collection of historic spans.