Remembering the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge - Whitman County, Washington

I visited the Palouse region in the summer of 2019 and one of the stops that I marked on my google maps to photograph was the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge, which is a 102 year old covered bridge that spans over the Palouse River. At the time, this was one of the last remaining covered bridges in Washington State. Unfortunately, the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge was destroyed in a fire in September 2020, completely destroying the bridge. Let’s take a look at what was the Manning-Rye Covered bridge, near Colfax, Washington.

Wait, what’s the Palouse???

The Palouse is a geographic region made up of small areas from three states in the Pacific Northwest – Idaho, Oregon and Washington, with the majority of the Palouse region being in Southeastern Washington State. This is an agricultural area famous for its rolling hills of wheat, barley, canola and lentils. This region is very popular with photographers who enjoy photographing rural, pastoral scenes. And the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge was one of those photography hot spots in this area!

Location of the old Manning-Rye Covered Bridge

The covered bridge was located about 13 minutes outside of Colfax, Washington, which is a small town in the Palouse region of Washington State. The road to the bridge runs through the famous rolling hills of the region – we found ourselves pulling over to snap picutres of the scenery as we were driving out here.

About The Manning Rye Covered Bridge

The historic covered train bridge was built by the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad in 1918. Decommissioned the 1960’s, it was eventually purchased by a landowner in 1967, who saved the bridge from demolition. The Manning-Rye covered bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The land on which the bridge resided was private property, so unless you had the landowner’s permission, you couldn’t across it, or even get too close to it; you had to photograph it from afar. But that’s where the best photos are – we just took these photos along the side of Manning Road and were really pleased with our results.

The bridge looked to be in rough shape when we were there in July 2019; it looked really rickety — but still had charm and was very photogenic!

Manning Rye Covered Bridge before the fire

Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the bridge a little over a year after our visit. The fire that destroyed Manning-Rye Covered Bridge on September 7, 2020 also destroyed nearby homes, historic buildings and farms in Whitman County.

In the photo above, you’ll see the landowners farm and buildings – the bridge was the only access point these landowners had to their property. Sadly, the entire farm and buildings were also destroyed in the fire.

You can see some of the photos of the bridge after the fire here.

Will the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge Be Rebuilt?

Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to reconstruct the bridge at this time.

With the loss of the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge, Washington State now has only one remaining covered bridge left: The Grays River bridge in Wahkiakum County.

Did you ever have the chance to visit the Manning-Rye Covered Bridge in the Palouse?