Long before power tools and the wide use of electricity, bridge timbers and stiffening members were produced at a sawmill and shaped to fit on site with hand adzes. This interior view of the vintage Hoffman Bridge in Linn County, Oregon, shows the intricacies of a covered bridge and the amount of supporting members and cross-ties used in bridge building. Unusual for any wooden bridge, gothic styled windows add a unique touch to this bridge.
   Built in 1936 by Lee Hoffman over Crabtree Creek, the Hoffman Bridge is also called the Crabtree Bridge. To avoid confusion in various bridge names, a World Number Guide was devised in the 1950s. The guide assigned a string of numbers to identify the state, county and specific bridge. Here, Oregon is the 37th state alphabetically and Linn County is the 22nd county; and the Hoffman Bridge has been assigned 37-22-08. Adopted by the National Society for Covered Bridges, bridge numbers on the bridge list have never been reused or reassigned.
   Named for John Crabtree, the town, creek and bridge honor the Virginia native who arrived in the Willamette Valley in 1845. The bridge, one of eight bridges on the Scio Covered Bridge Tour, is located near Albany on Hungry Hill Road, just a few miles from I-5.

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