Chitwood, Oregon

Chitwood, Oregon
Unincorporated community
Chitwood Bridge
Chitwood Bridge
Chitwood is located in Oregon
Chitwood
Chitwood
Chitwood is located in the United States
Chitwood
Chitwood
Coordinates: 44°39′17″N 123°49′21″W / 44.65472°N 123.82250°W / 44.65472; -123.82250
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyLincoln
Elevation
141 ft (43 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
Coordinates and elevation from United States Geological Survey[1]

Chitwood is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States.[1] Chitwood lies on U.S. Route 20 between Toledo to the west and Eddyville to the east.[2] The Yaquina River flows through Chitwood.[2]

Historically, Chitwood was a station on the railway line between Corvallis and Toledo. It was named for Joshua Chitwood, who lived nearby during construction of the railway, 1881–85.[3] The line was originally known as the Yaquina Route of the Oregon Pacific Railroad, linking the former port city of Yaquina to Corvallis and Albany.[4] After the Oregon Pacific failed financially, fell into receivership, and went through 17 years of financial and legal complications, in 1907 it became a branch line of the Southern Pacific.[5]

The post office in Chitwood opened in 1887 and closed in 1945.[3]

Lincoln County built Chitwood Bridge, a covered bridge, at Chitwood in 1926. Scheduled for demolition, it was instead improved in 1984 through a federally funded restoration project. The Howe truss bridge is 96 feet (29 m) long.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Chitwood". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Oregon Road and Recreation Atlas (5th ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Benchmark Maps. 2012. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-929591-62-9.
  3. ^ a b McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 199–200. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  4. ^ Culp, Edwin D. (1978). Stations West: The Story of the Oregon Railways. New York City: Bonanza Books. pp. 82–90. OCLC 4751643.
  5. ^ Corning, Howard McKinley (1989) [1956]. Dictionary of Oregon History (2nd ed.). Portland: Binford & Mort. p. 277. ISBN 0-8323-0449-2.
  6. ^ Smith, Dwight A.; Norman, James B.; Dykman, Pieter T. (1989) [1986]. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon (2nd ed.). Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-87595-205-4.