Benham Falls Bridge, Oregon - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

In 1911 the railroad reached Bend from the north. This brought interest in the timber south of Bend. In 1916 two large lumber mills (Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon) opened in Bend. The Shevlin-Hixon mill was on the west side of the river and began operations southwest of Bend. In 1921, a bridge was built across the Deschutes River near Benham Falls to access timber on the west side of Newberry Volcano. In 1928, the Great Northern Railroad began using the Shevlin-Hixon line as part of connection south to the Southern Pacific at Chemult. In 1932, the Great Northern discontinued use of the Benham Falls bridge when it completed a new grade on the east side of the river across the Lava Butte flow. Shevlin-Hixon continued to use the bridge until about 1948 when they abandoned it in favor of the Great Northern line. The rails were removed from the bridge and it was used by vehicles until the late 1960’s when the bridge deck burned. In 1982, the Oregon National Guard in cooperation with the Forest Service built a foot bridge using the original bridge supports as a foundation.

Year photo was taken: 1922

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