Chitwood, Oregon

Chitwood, Oregon
Unincorporated community
Chitwood Bridge
Chitwood Show map of Oregon Chitwood Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 44°39′17″N 123°49′21″W
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Lincoln
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Time zone	UTC-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]

References

1. "Chitwood". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
2. Oregon Road and Recreation Atlas (5th ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Benchmark Maps. 2012. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-929591-62-9.
3. 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.