The Gallon House Bridge
Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the northwest and one of the largest in the country. The tradition began in the 1850's when pioneers began using the local Douglas Firs to build the spans along with the enclosures above them that dramatically increased their useful lifetimes.The Abiqua Creek Bridge was built in 1916 over that stream northwest of town. (for the engineers out there, it's a Howe truss structure, like most of the covered bridges here.) It survived a flood in 1964 that knocked it off its supports as well as a few restorations, some poor and some (like the most recent) that returned it to pristine condition. But it was "white lightning" that gave the bridge the history that made it mural-worthy.
Back then Silverton was a dry town, but Mount Angel to the north was 'wet' - and the Abiqua was the dividing line between districts. It didn't take long for the bridge to become an illicit distribution point for liquor. Gallons of whiskey from a distillery in Mount Angel would be left at a blind drop at the north end of the bridge. And thus the "Gallon House Bridge" was born. The practice continued with moonshine when Prohibition made the whole country dry in 1920.
That's Mateo with the mural above and again at the bridge itself below. We sometimes detour through it on our way back from his twice-weekly morning daycare.
In the detail below, and a poem (second picture below) the mural envisions the bridge "in days gone by" as more than just a locale for the illicit exchange of moonshine, but also a place for a picnic and a stolen kiss.
And there's Mateo still wielding his little camera below. It's still the only way to get him to sit still for staged photos. He's okay as long as he gets a turn to shutterbug first before posing for our shots. I'm convinced he's going to be a celebrity someday, as he's already prepared for the paparazzi ("No pictures!") The final photo is one of his better compositions.
Appropriately, Mount Angel still serves as a symbol of liquid cheer for Silverton, the Willamette Valley and Portland, as this very weekend the town will host an Oktoberfest that's the 'largest folk/harvest festival in the northwest'. Mount Angel is home to a large Bavarian population, German restaurants, a sausage company, an Abbey full of monks, a traditional Glockenspiel clock with life-sized moving figures, and a few thousand residents. But for four days, an extra 350,000 people will come to celebrate. We'll be bringing some friends from out of town, and volunteering for a shift at our church's Knights of Columbus bratwurst booth. Expect to see a detailed report in an upcoming blog. I myself will be doing some extensive research, involving a 14-ounce plastic cup and an oompa band....
