Stayton-Jordan Bridge at Pioneer Park in Stayton Oregon

Visitor and great idea person Jason Jones suggested I do a “then and now” comparison of the Stayton-Jordan Bridge. He pointed me to some photos in the Salem Library online archive of the bridge, taken around 1960. And so I shall.

I don’t want to post the Library’s photos here because it would violate their guidelines, so linkage will commence after a brief summary of the bridge.

Once upon a time (1937, to be exact, though some of the dates which follow might be a wee bit off), the Jordan Bridge was built over Thomas Creek at Jordan east of nearby Scio. It stood for almost 50 years before volunteers saved it from being torn down. Instead, the disassembled it and rebuilt it in Stayton’s Pioneer Park in 1985. A fire destroyed the bridge in 1994 so volunteers once again rebuilt the bridge in 1998. The current version stayed true to the original.

If you visit this link at the Library’s Oregon Historic Photograph Collections site you can view some great photos of the bridge as it was 50 years ago. I especially like this photo because it shows not only the bridge, but also the area around it (even an old car).

Thanks, Jason, for the link to the photos — I had no idea they existed — and for the great idea. I appreciate it a lot, especially since it gave me an excuse to take more photos of my favorite bridge.