It’s quiet in Chitwood today. Visible from U.S. Route 20, the barn red Chitwood Bridge is all that remains of a bustling little railroad town. The train depot was demolished, Pepin’s Grocery burned and Smith’s General Store remains boarded up.
     Established during the 1860s, the town’s first few bridges over the Lower Yaquina River quickly gave in to the damp coastal air. The Chitwood Covered Bridge, a simple design built by Otis Hamer in 1926, was made to last. Using semi-elliptical Howe trusses, the bridge’s all important timbers were protected by a roof of cedar shingles and flared batten sidewalls. The railway’s Corvallis and Eastern’s steam engines gave way to diesels, no longer requiring a stop for water and coal.
     It’s quiet in Chitwood. The few residents enjoy its peaceful setting. Most of the traffic comes from Oregon’s Coastal Range sightseers that stop to see the 96 foot long bridge that's still in use today. Above each portal is a Chitwood sign, saved from the old Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.