Gallon House Bridge

Fine Art by artist Terry Peasley - Description: The historic Gallon House Bridge in Marion County located between Silverton and Mount Angel, Oregon. Built in 1916, the Gallon House Bridge is the last covered bridge, as well as the oldest bridge, in Marion County, and one of the oldest bridges in Oregon.

The name Gallon House was due to the bridge's use as a "liquor Gallon House Bridgedrop" by bootleggers. The State of Oregon became a "dry state" in 1916, when Governor West signed into law a prohibition on the sale of alcohol. At the time Silverton was "dry" and had a municipal code that prohibited liquor from being sold in town, while Mt. Angel was "wet" and residents got around the law by "giving" each other alcohol, hiding the money that made it a sale rather than a gift. Operators at a liquor dispensary nearby sold "white lightening" whiskey by the gallon to Silverton residents from a little shack - a "gallon house" - located on the Mt. Angel side of the bridge.

Oregon covered bridges are icons of the past. Forty years ago I photographed all the bridges not realizing I would start up painting 12 years later.