Cottage Grove, Oregon

2 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 COTTAGE GROVE, OREGON WORKINGTOGETHER L ocated on the southern tip of Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley region, the City of Cottage Grove is a community that celebrates its past, while embracing the future. With a long history of mining and logging, Cottage Grove is also known for its six covered bridges, and the only remaining covered railroad bridge west of the Mississippi – crowning them as the Covered Bridge Capital of the West. Nestled into the foothills of the cascades, Cottage Grove is positioned around the junction of the Row River and the Coast Fork of the Willamette River. The city’s scenic surroundings and 240 acres of parkland are a great backdrop for outdoor experiences such as camping, biking, and hiking, while the natural splendor of Cottage Grove Lake and Dorena Lake offer popular recreation opportunities. Not without controversy, Cottage Grove has a fascinating story in which the city divided into two communities as the result of an ongoing a feud in 1893. City Manager, Richard Meyers recounts, “One side felt they weren’t getting the improvements that they needed or wanted,