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Centennial Arch, Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking east. Broughton Bluff is in the distance.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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The "Centennial Arch" was dedicated in 2010 and celebrates the 100th birthday of Troutdale. It spans Main Street on the western end of Troutdale.
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Troutdale ...
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Troutdale, Oregon, is located along the Sandy River at River Mile (RM) 3. To the north of Troutdale is the mouth of the Sandy River at Columbia River Mile (RM) 120. Chinook Landing, lies slightly north and downstream while the Sandy River Delta lies north and upstream. Broughton Bluff looms behind Troutdale to the east. Troutdale can be reached from Interstate 84. The City is known as the "Gateway to the Gorge". Troutdale is often considered the start of the Historic Columbia River Highway.
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Sandy River, Beaver Creek, and Harlow Creek ...
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The City of Troutdale is located on the west side of the Sandy River at approximately Sandy River Mile (RM) 3, at a location where Beaver Creek tributary merges with the Sandy. Harlow Creek meets Beaver Creek just up from the Sandy River/Beaver Creek junction. The source of Harlow Creek
is the trout ponds after which Troutdale was named.
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Sandy River as seen from near Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
View from the approximate location of where Beaver Creek enters the Sandy.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Lewis and Clark and Troutdale ...
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When men of the Lewis and Clark expedition explored six miles up the Sandy River on April 1, 1806, they passed the location of what would become the eastern edge of the Oregon community of Troutdale.
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"... This morning early we dispatched Sergt. Pryar with two men in a small canoe up quicksand river with orders to proceed as far as he could and return this evening. ...
Sergt. Pryar returned in the evening and reported that he had ascended the river six miles; ..."
[Lewis, April 1, 1806]
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Poster, 2004-2006 Lewis and Clark Exhibit, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Early History ...
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The Troutdale community was first called Sandy, a name now used for a community located 22 miles upstream on the Sandy River. A Sandy Post Office existed at the location of today's Troutdale between 1854 and 1868.
The earliest settlers to the area of today's Troutdale arrived in 1850 and 1851, with early donation land claims filed by David F. Buxton (1865, 1873), Felix G. Hicklin (1865), James M. Stott (1866), John Douglass (1881), and Benjamin Hall (1881).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database (2011), David F. Buxton was granted title to 16.3 acres of T1N R3E Section 25, on November 20, 1865 (1820 Sale-Cash Entry). David F. Buxton and Fanny Buxton were granted title to 320.21 acres of T1N R3E Sections 25 and 26 on May 5, 1873 (1850 Oregon-Donation Act).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database (2011), Felix G. Hicklin was granted title to 25.75 acres of T1N R3E Section 25, on November 20, 1865 (1820 Sale-Cash Entry).
In 1872 Captain John Harlow, an Oregon pioneer from Maine, purchased part of Buxton's land claim to build his country home. He stocked the ponds in the dale at the base of the bluff behind his home with trout and called his farm "Troutdale".
Harlow briefly established the Troutdale Post Office in 1880, although it didn't last long. When the railroad arrived Harlow requested the station be named "Troutdale".
On November 20, 1882, Troutdale had a rail line and the town prospered.
In 1907 Troutdale was incorporated, with Aaron Fox becoming its first mayor.
OREGON HISTORY
TROUTDALE
"This pioneer community, gateway to the Columbia Gorge was settled in the 1850s. Cattle herds of early pioneers were driven to the nearby Sandy River from the Dalles while the Emigrants rafted their wagons down the Columbia. First known as Sandy, the present name came from fish ponds built by the towns founder, Captain John Harlow. By the turn of the century railroad and river commerce made Troutdale a noisy boom town boasting "A tavern on each corner and one in the middle". Here in 1894 part of Coxey's Army, 500 unemployed demonstrators, commandeered a train in an attempt to reach Washington D.C.."
Source:
Oregon History sign, Troutdale, Oregon, visited September 2011.
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Oregon History sign, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Early Maps ...
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1918 Topographic map detail, Troudale, Oregon.
Map shows the Columbia River south to Troutdale, Oregon, and includes Lady Island, Fairview and Blue Lakes, Sundial Lake, Company Lake, the Sandy River and the Little Sandy River, and Gary Island. U.S. Geological Survey 1:62,000 "Troutdale Quadrangle".
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Troutdale in 1940 ...
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From the Oregon State Archives "A 1940 Journey Across Oregon":
"... TROUTDALE, 177.7 m. (50 alt., 227 pop.), is a trade center for a fruit and vegetable producing area specializing in celery growing. Between truck gardens and dairy farms, US 30 crosses the bottom lands of the widening Columbia Valley to FAIRVIEW, 180.3 m. (114 alt., 266 pop.), and past orchards, bulb farms, and suburban homes to PARKROSE 185.2 m. ..."
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Street Scenes ...
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Street scene, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Street scene heading east, Troutdale, Oregon.
View taken from moving car from the old Historic Columbia River Highway.
Broughton Bluff in the background.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Street scene, Troutdale, Oregon.
Looking east, with Broughton Bluff in the background.
Image taken from moving car.
Image taken July 27, 2008.
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NOTE: in September 2011, "Lyn's Cafe" was no longer in business.
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Street scene, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken from moving car.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Street scene heading east, Troutdale, Oregon.
View taken from moving car from the old Historic Columbia River Highway.
Image taken August 27, 2005.
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Street scene, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken from moving car.
Image taken July 27, 2008.
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Troutdale Street Scene heading west, Troutdale, Oregon.
View taken from moving car from the old Historic Columbia River Highway.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Troutdale Street Scene heading west, Troutdale, Oregon.
View taken from moving car from the old Historic Columbia River Highway.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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- Aluminum Plant ...
- Barn Museum ...
- Beaver Creek ...
- Beaver Creek "Walking Bridge" ...
- Centennial Arch ...
- Columbia Gorge Outlet Stores ...
- Depot Rail Museum ...
- "Devoted Passion" Bronze ...
- Gas Station (Historic) ...
- Glenn Otto Community Park ...
- Handy Brothers Gas Station (Historic) ...
- Harlow House and Harlow Park ...
- McMenamins Edgefield (Multnomah County Poor Farm) ...
- Oregon Trail ...
- Robins Way ...
- Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street ...
- Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale ...
- Smelt Fishery ...
- Sundial Beach, Island, Lake, Ranch, Wetlands ...
- Tad's Chicken 'n Dumplins ...
- Troutdale Art Center ...
- Troutdale Ferry (Historic) ...
- Troutdale State Bank Building (Historic) ...
- Water Tower ...
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Aluminum Plant ...
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"In November 1941, bulldozers advanced into the green meadows of the Sundial Ranch southeast of Troutdale, Oregon, carving out a site for an aluminum reduction plant. Six months later, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) produced the first lightweight metal at the plant that would be used to fabricate World War II airplanes. Though known for most of its post-war existence as Reynolds Metals, the plant was owned by Alcoa at both the beginning and the end of its sixty-year life. During those decades, three generations of workers put on steel-toed boots, packed lunch boxes, and went to work in the Troutdale plant.
The plant was a smelter that turned alumina powder into aluminum. ... Environmentally, it contributed to the death of a flower-bulb industry in Corbett, spawned a major lawsuit with a neighboring cattle rancher, and created a Superfund site. ...
At war’s end in 1945, the plant was declared surplus. Richard Samuel Reynolds leased the plant and put its workforce back on the potlines at ninety cents an hour. He purchased the plant in 1949, and it became part of a booming post-war prosperity that saw returning war veterans purchasing houses, cars, appliances, and aluminum foil. ...
But the Reynolds plant produced fluoride emissions, damaging flower bulb farms in nearby Corbett and Springdale. After Reynolds bought the Martin Ranch in 1968, a protracted lawsuit against the company claimed that fluoride emissions from the plant had killed the Martins' cattle. Reynolds sold the ranch for public use in 1991; it is now managed by the U.S. Forest Service as the Sandy River Delta Park. A contaminated area around a company lake near the plant was named a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1994.
The plant operated for sixty years, but increasing competition for other producers on the international market made the operation unprofitable. ...
In 1984, running at only 40 percent of its capacity, the plant had a $19 million annual payroll to 430 employees and paid $430,000 in local taxes. Alcoa purchased the plant back in 1998 and began demolition in 2003. The Port of Portland purchased the site in 2004 and invested $14 million in environmental cleanup. It is now home to a Federal Express distribution center and an Amazon fulfillment center which opened in 2018."
Source:
Sharon Nesbit, 2018, "Troutdale Aluminum Plant", IN: "The Oregon Encyclopedia" website, 2019.
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1994 Topographic map detail, Columbia River north of Troutdale, Oregon.
Map shows the Columbia River, Lady Island, Washington, and the mouth of the Sandy River, Oregon. Also shown are "Sundial Beach", "Company Lake", the "Troutdale Aluminum plant", and the
"Portland-Troutdale Airport". Original map courtesy National Geographic's "TOPO!", 1994.
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Barn Museum ...
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The Troutdale Historical Society maintains three museums -- the Depot Rail Museum (a turn of the century railroad depot), the Harlow House (built in 1900), and the Barn Museum, a large red barn built in the 1990s to house changing exhibits of the Troutdale Historical Society. According to the Troutdale Historical Society's website (2015), the Barn Museum's first exhibit was in 1998 and was called "Smelt Run!, A Fish Story". The Barn Museum is located just east of and behind the Harlow House (see more on the Depot Rail Museum and the Harlow House below).
According to the Troutdale Historical Society website (2016):
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"Our Barn Exhibit Hall was the brainchild of John Nasmyth, a member of the Troutdale Historical Society, who suggested the society needed a place to display and store farm equipment and other artifacts being donated. ...
Members went to work designing and building the barn. Dick Jones, who discovered the society through a tour of historic homes, contributed many hours to the construction of the barn. He is considered the main builder. He died before the building was complete and the barn was prepared for opening by Robert Strebin. Ten years after the start of construction, the building was ready to use.
In 1998 the first exhibit opened entitled “Smelt Run!” A Fish Story,” telling the story of Troutdale's smelt runs and coinciding with the society's 30th anniversary. Included in the exhibit were a collection of pictures, text and artifacts of the Troutdale smelt runs that once drew thousands of visitors to the Sandy River. That exhibit was followed by another on Lewis and Clark and the story of the expedition in the Sandy River area. Troutdale's centennial exhibit was entitled “What Went By,” a tribute to the 100 year birthday of Troutdale.
Currently, the Barn Exhibit Hall features "King of Roads," marking the 100 year birthday of the Historic Columbia River Highway in 2016, an event that will be a state-wide celebration. Our exhibit details the construction of the first highway built as a scenic road in the United States, and the first to have a center line painted down the middle of the road. It celebrates the local residents who helped build the road in Multnomah County and tells the story of the road's decline and its ultimate preservation.
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Barn Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Beaver Creek ...
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Beaver Creek is a tributary to the Sandy River and merges into it at Sandy River Mile (RM) 3. The City of Troutdale lies to the west.
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Beaver Creek, looking upstream, Troutdale, Oregon.
View from "walking bridge" across Beaver Creek.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Beaver Creek, looking upstream, Troutdale, Oregon.
View from "walking bridge" across Beaver Creek.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Beaver Creek, looking downstream, Troutdale, Oregon.
View from "walking bridge" across Beaver Creek looking at the Columbia River Highway Bridge.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Beaver Creek "Walking Bridge" ...
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On the west side of Troutdale's Glenn Otto Community Park lies a "walking bridge" across Beaver Creek. The Historic Columbia River Highway where it crosses Beaver Creek is located just to the north.
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"Walking Bridge" over Beaver Creek, Troutdale, Oregon.
Heading west.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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"Walking Bridge" over Beaver Creek, Troutdale, Oregon.
Heading east, heading back to Glenn Otto Community Park.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Centennial Arch ...
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Originally the Troutdale Centennial Arch was planned to celebrate Troutdale's 100th anniversary in 2007, however budgets kept the Arch from becoming a reality. I took until 2010 before the Arch rose above the main street of Troutdale. On March 16, 2010 the Arch was place in position.
The Centennial Arch was designed by sculptor Rip Caswell who initially conceived the arch concept and sculpted the two seven-foot-long bronze trout adorning the side supports. The Arch rises 22 feet above the road surface and stretches 68 feet from side to side. It was built in three sections, weighs 12,000 pounds, and can withstand winds up to 110 miles per hour and bear three inches of ice.
The two columns are built on supports embedded 25 feet into the native Troutdale Formation soils and grouted in place. The columns are decorated with Columbia River Basalt, the same type of rock used in the construction of the Historic Columbia River Scenic Highway.
A time capsule filled with material provided by the Troutdale Historical Society was sealed in the south column of the Arch, to be opened in 2110.
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"Centennial Arch, Gateway to the Gorge", Troutdale, Oregon.
Looking east, with Broughton Bluff in the background.
Image taken July 17, 2010.
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Centennial Arch northeast support, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Columbia Gorge Outlet Stores ...
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Columbia Gorge Outlet Stores sign, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken July 2, 2017.
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Depot Rail Museum ...
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In 1882 a rail line was built through what is now Troutdale, and continued east through the Columbia River Gorge. Troutdale's founder, Capt. John Harlow, manipulated the Railroad to establish a depot at his townsite. The town of Troutdale grew up along the tracks. The original 1882 depot burned in 1907 and the depot of today was built in the same year.
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"... Indoor restrooms were later added and the trackside bay area altered. Otherwise, the building, which was the shipping site of many carloads of fresh vegetables, is much the same as when it was new. ..."
[Troutdale Historical Society brochure, 2011]
In 1976 the then-derelict depot was sold for $1.00 to the city of Troutdale by the Union Pacific Railroad. It was moved one and one-half blocks east from the original site, on the north side of the tracks, to its current location, near the south side of the tracks. The depot is now a museum with the station agent's office containing railroad artifacts donated by local residents.
A Union Pacific caboose was donated by the railroad and sits on the depot grounds.
Depot Park lies on the east side of the museum and overlooks Beaver Creek where it merges with the Sandy River.
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Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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1907, Troutdale Depot, image taken of photograph on the wall at the Depot Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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2011, Depot building today, now the Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Inside, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Waiting room, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Stool, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Information sign reads:
&nsbp;
ALL ABOARD!!!
These handy stools were, and are used to help passenger's board and alight from rail cars.
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... Union Pacific Caboose 25748 ...
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Union Pacific Caboose, UP25748, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Union Pacific Caboose, UP25748, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Union Pacific Caboose, UP25748, Depot Rail Museum, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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"Devoted Passion" Bronze ...
"Devoted Passion", a bronze created by sculptor Rip Caswell, was unveiled in Troutdale on July 7, 2016, on the 100th anniversary of the opening of the (Historic) Columbia River Highway. Rip Caswell is a local Troutdale artist and one of the members of the Troutdale Art Center. Rip also was the sculputor of the two otters "Bert and Ernie", located on the Allen Street Bridge over the Cowlitz River in Longview, Washington.
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The first monument to the key planners of the Historic Columbia River Highway was unveiled in Troutdale on Tuesday, June 7 — 100 years ago to the day since the roadway’s dedication ceremony in 1916.
The statue, designed by renowned local sculptor Rip Caswell, shows financier Sam Hill standing alongside Samuel Lancaster, the visionary engineer who designed the road.
Its title is “Devoted Passion,” which Caswell considered a fitting tribute for two men who dedicated their lives to a road that contours to the landscape, rather than flattening it. ...
The 2,000-pound statue, which took about a year to complete, is cast in bronze, with shades of sepia, brown and even a hint of gold, according to the artist. Viewed from the front, the statue shows Lancaster raising his arm toward the bluffs, as if sketching the proposed route of the highway. A slide ruler sticks out of his jacket pocket, and his foot rests on an authentic surveyor’s case. Hill stands slightly behind the engineer, perhaps considering how to pay for everything.
The statue was installed earlier this week at the newly-christened Visionary Park, located at the corner of Jackson Park Road and Historic Columbia River Highway. ...."
Source:
Pamplin Media Group "Outlook", June 8, 2016, "Caswell sculpture depicts highway visionaries", written by Zane Sparling.
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"Devoted Passion" Bronze, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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"Devoted Passion" Bronze, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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"Devoted Passion" Bronze, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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"Devoted Passion" Bronze, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Gas Station (Historic) ...
"The little station with its canopy was built about 1930 to serve motorists on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Even older was a row of tourist cabins along the river bank. Proprietors of the station and cabins for 40 years were Ruby and Elliot Staten. For many years the couple lived in the station, a bed on one side and the kitchen on the other. "You'd be surprised how many people we entertained in that place," she once said. In 1948 during the Vanport Flood, the service station sat alone above flood waters that backed up into and overflowed, the Sandy. Ruby Staten delivered the newspapers to her neighbors by canoe. Once the flood was over, she remodeled her tourist cabins, painting and papering them and was again open for business. That ended in 1964 when a Christmas flood swept down the Sandy River destroying the cabins and isolating the station."
Source:
City of Troutdale website, 2014.
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Historic Gas Station, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Historic Gas Station, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Historic Gas Station, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Painting on building, Historic Gas Station, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Glenn Otto Community Park ...
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Glenn Otto Community Park is quiet park located east of downtown Troutdale and west of the Sandy River. According to the City of Troutdale website (2015):
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"This 6.38 acre park is the most heavily used park in the Troutdale park system. Access to the site is off East Columbia River Highway. It is bordered by the Sandy River on the east, Beaver Creek on the west, and a few residential properties on the south.
Mr. Glenn Otto served the City of Troutdale for many years as a Planning Commissioner, City Councilor, and Mayor. During his tenure of service to the City he negotiated the purchase of Troutdale's first park site located along the banks of the Sandy River and provided leadership in the creation and improvement of the park.
The City of Troutdale wanted to honor Mr. Otto's illustrious career of devoted service to the City and his vision and guidance in acquiring and developing the riverside park site, so the name of the park was changed from Troutdale Community Park to Glenn Otto Park in 1995."
[City of Troutdale website, 2015]
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Glenn Otto Community Park, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Glenn Otto Community Park, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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"Legacy Pathway", Glenn Otto Community Park, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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"Legacy Pathway", Glenn Otto Community Park, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Handy Brothers Gas Station (Historic) ...
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The Handy Brothers Gas Station had five bays and was built ca.1930. Next door was the building of the Troutdale State Bank which opened in 1920.
According to Ken Manske ("The Historic Columbia River Highway"):
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"On the north side of Columbia Street is a large, five-bay "Handy Brothers" gas station built in 1925 that once housed a restaurant and cabinet shop. The gas station was added to over the next fifteen years. It has been in the Handy family since 1940."
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Law Office building and former Handy Brothers Gas Station, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 31, 2014.
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The Law Office was once the "Troutdale State Bank". The gray building behind was the "Handy Brothers Gas Station".
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Harlow House and Harlow Park ...
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The "Harlow House" was built in 1900 by Fred E. Harlow, son of Capt. John Harlow, on property once known as the "Harlow Farm". The City of Troutdale purchased the house and grounds in 1979 and later sold the house to the Troutdale Historical Society. The house is now a museum and the grounds around the house are a part of the Troutdale city park system, known as "Harlow Park". In 1984 the Harlow House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (#84003078). According to the National Register of Historic Places, the house is also known as the "Harlow-Evans House".
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Harlow House, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Harlow House, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Harlow House, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Porch, Harlow House, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Interior, Harlow House, Troutdale, Oregon.
Museum was closed, image shot through front door window.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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McMenamins Edgefield (Multnomah County Poor Farm) ...
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Today's McMenamins Edgefield Hotel was built in 1911 as Multnomah County's poor farm. In 1964 it became "Edgefield Manor", a nursing home. The nursing home was abandoned in 1982 and the buildings were left to the elements. In 1990 the property was bought by the McMenamin brothers and turned into a hostel and resort.
According to the McMenamins Edgefield website (2017):
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"Historic Edgefield, built in 1911 as the county poor farm, is a destination resort in the Pacific Northwest that blends Oregon's natural beauty with McMenamins' signature whimsy: original buildings carefully restored with cozy interiors, gardens grown using organic methods, great food and drink, live entertainment and more.
Encompassing a 74-acre parcel of farmland at the mouth of the spectacular Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area, Edgefield is a 20-minute drive to or from the center of downtown Portland and about 15 minutes from Portland International Airport.
The stately main building, with over 100 guestrooms and hostel accommodations, is furnished in turn-of-the-century decor. There are no televisions or telephones in the rooms, encouraging tranquility as surely as do the rocking chairs on our verandas."
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"The Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale was built in 1911 to replace Multnomah County's first home for the destitute, the Hillside Farm in Portland's West Hills. ... [The] Multnomah County Commissioners [hastened] work on a progressive new institution at Troutdale intended to help the poor become self-sufficient through farming. ...
The farm, which ultimately grew to 345 acres, was completed in a year ... and included a main lodge, outbuildings, dairy, and piggery. In November 1911, 211 inmates (later called residents) moved in ...
By 1914, the Poor Farm was a success on paper. It housed 302 residents and managed a herd of Holstein dairy cows, 100 Duroc hogs (that ate the leftovers from the dining room), 420 Plymouth Rock hens, and 225 chickens. The crops, vegetables, fruit, hay, grain, eggs, and twenty-seven acres of potatoes were shared with the county jail (which provided some trustees to work in the fields), a hospital, and a juvenile home. The farm's population peaked in 1935 at 614 residents ... Soon after, President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and the job boom of World War II lured the able-bodied to leave the farm and re-enter the job market. Post-war welfare and Social Security programs dispersed the remaining residents, leaving behind those who were disabled or had become so accustomed to institutional life that they were unable to live independently.
The farm concept was gradually abandoned. The county jail, built on the site in 1959 largely because the land was available, had no prisoners who would toil in the fields. The dairy herd was sold in 1969 and the fields were leased. In 1964, the main lodge was renamed Edgefield and became a nursing home, the first in Oregon to offer physical rehabilitation. It served in that capacity until 1982, when the buildings were closed and all but abandoned.
By 1985, neglected and ravaged by vandals, Edgefield was declared "dilapidated beyond repair" and destined for demolition. The Troutdale Historical Society challenged the county, claiming that the buildings were historic and should be protected. Preservationists staved off demolition for nearly five years before the complex was purchased in 1990 by micro-brew pioneers Mike and Brian McMenamin, who wanted to try their hands at the hotel business.
Edgefield ... is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a destination resort with pubs, restaurants, theaters, gardens, and a golf course. The complex includes a winery, brewery and distillery, a restaurant, and a concert venue ..."
Source:
Sharon Nesbit, 2015, "Multnomah County Poor Farm (Edgefield)", The Oregon Encyclopedia, 2017.
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Among Edgefield's many amenities is an outdoor concert venue known as "Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn", hosting world-famous performers.
On June 9, 2017, the Moody Blues played at the McMenamins Edgefield venue, the fifth concert on their "The Days of Future Passed" 50th anniversary tour.
[More]
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McMenamins Edgefield sign, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken July 2, 2017.
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"Concerts on the Lawn" venue, McMenamins Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken June 9, 2017.
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Moody Blues, "Concerts on the Lawn", McMenamins Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken June 9, 2017.
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Oregon Trail ...
Leaving The Dalles, Oregon Trail emigrants who chose the "river route" built rafts to float women, children, wagons, and goods down the Columbia River, while the men and boys drove the livestock along the banks. At the Hood River the cattle crossed to the north bank of the Columbia and at the Sandy River the cattle were driven back across the Columbia to the south side. While many rafts floated all the way to Fort Vancouver, others would unload at the mouth of the Sandy River to wait for the men and cattle. Wagons were reassembled and then went south, climbing the hills and heading towards Oregon City. The Oregon community of Troutdale was settled during this period, not only by Oregon Trail pioneers arriving via the Columbia, but also from pioneers arriving in Portland and heading east towards the banks of the Sandy. In 1863 Joel Palmer established a toll cattle trail on the south side of the Columbia River and established ferries across the Hood River and the Sandy River. In 1872 the Oregon legislature first appropriated funds for building a wagon road from The Dalles to Troutdale, and in 1876 they provided more. In 1883 the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company built a railroad along the same route, destroying the wagon road in many places. By 1925 the Columbia River Highway was finished, giving early 20th century "pioneers" easy access to the Willamette Valley.
"Oregon Trail emigrants arrived at the Sandy River after descending the Columbia or traveling its rugged banks with lifestock. Emigrants camped along the banks of the Sandy River reassembling wagons and recuperating. Crossing the Sandy downstream from this site, and climbing the hill behind the Harlow House, where the trail is still visible, emigrants could look behind at the bluffs that today mark the western entrance of the Columbia Gorge. For emigrants, however, these bluffs marked the eastern gateway to the Willamette Valley. ..."
Source:
Information sign at the Harlow House Museum, Troutdale, Oregon, visited in 2011.
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Robins Way ...
The Harlow House Park is also the trailhead for the Strawberry Meadows Trail, dedicated as "Robins Way". The trail, once an old Indian path, rises behind the Harlow House and extends up the hill towards the Strawberry Meadows subdivision. A strawberry farm once flourished in the area of this subdivision. The trail crosses Harlow Creek. Vegetation obscurs the waters of the trout ponds.
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"This ancient trail has known the feet of Native Americans who camped nearby hunting small birds in the wetlands, or drying smelt netted in the Sandy River.
This trail has known the wheels of wagons, weary from crossing prairies, creaking slowly toward Oregon City.
This trail was chosen by scout Joel Palmer for his road up the Columbia River Gorge.
This trail was used by the Harlow family walking uphill to check on their horses.
And this trail is the legacy of Robin Dix, whose family was the last to grow sweet berries here."
Source:
Robins Way Information Sign, visited September 2011.
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... Bob, Robin, and Julie Dix ...
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"Troutdale Historical Society loses a friend. Bob Dix died Friday, Aug.21, at his Boring home at the age of 84. ...
Bob first got a taste for the berry business while tending his father's five acres. In about 1948, he and his wife moved into a rented home in Troutdale, surviving the winter of 1949-1950 when everyone was snowed in for more than a week. They purchased about 40 acres at the top of the hill in Troutdale, the present location of the Strawberry Meadows subdivision. ...
In response to losing two children, Robin in 1982 and Julie and a grandson in 1995, the Dixes helped preserve the canyon and historic trail behind their fields. In honor of their children the trail is called Robins Way. ..."
Source:
Troutdale Historical Society, "Bygone Times" newsletter, September 2009.
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Memorial rock, Robins Way, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Robins Way path crossing Harlow Creek, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Path, Robins Way, Troutdale, Oregon, once a wagon road heading from Troutdale towards Oregon City.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Information sign, Robins Way, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street ...
There are two "starting points" for the Historic Columbia River Highway, both bridges crossing the Sandy River. One is the Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale, completed in 1912, and the other is the Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street, completed in 1914.
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Penny Postcard: Sandy River Bridge, ca.1920.
Sandy River, Oregon, and the Stark Street Bridge, located at Sandy River Mile 6. Caption reads "Sandy River Bridge at Auto Club Grounds - Beginning of the Columbia River Highway, Oregon". The Columbia River Highway was built between 1913 and 1922, at the beginning of the automobile age. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street, Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking east.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street, Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking west.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale ...
There are two "starting points" for the Historic Columbia River Highway, both bridges crossing the Sandy River. One is the Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale, completed in 1912, and the other is the Sandy River Bridge at Stark Street, completed in 1914.
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Sandy River looking upstream from Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area, Oregon.
Broughton Bluff, part of the Chamberlain Hill Boring Lava Cone, is in the background.
Image taken October 18, 2003.
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Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking east.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Sandy River Bridge at Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking east.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Smelt Fishery ...
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"A commercial smelt fishery has operated from time to time in the Sandy River at Troutdale. The accompanying photographs [note: not included here] were taken in 1907 and 1922 respectively. In 1927 one of the outfits, Knarr and Sons, sold 53 1/2 tons of the small fish to the Bonneville Hatcheries and the following year 23 tons.
In 1957 a half million pounds of smelt were taken from the Sandy by commerical fishermen - most of them destined for cat food. Then in 1958 the smelt suddenly disappeared and did not make another run until 1971. They had returned to their former large numbers by 1977 when 800,000 pounds were taken by commercial fishermen. In 1979, the last year for which figures were available [note: 1980 publication], 600,000 pounds were taken. Ten commercial outfits operated on the Sandy during the 1977 season, among them the largest vessels were 25 foot gillnet boats, the smallest were 16 foot aluminum rowboats. The smelt do not penetrate far upstream, and the Troutdale bridge at River Mile 3.1 is the upper limit of commerical boat fishing. The runs generally last about three weeks each spring."
Source:
James E. Farnell, Ph.D., Research Analyst, 1980, "Sandy and Hood River Navigability Studies", Division of State Lands, Salem, Oregon, July 1980.
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Smelt fishing, Sandy River, Oregon.
Nice spring day.
Image taken March 7, 2015.
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Sundial Beach, Island, Lake, Ranch, and Wetlands ...
In 1841 Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition named the island between the upper and lower mouths of the Sandy River
"Bachelet I.", with the upper mouth being named "Quichel's R." and the lower mouth becoming "Palle Creek". These names did not stick. The upper mouth of the Sandy became the "Sandy River" and the lower mouth became the "Little Sandy River", and the "island" between them became known as "Sundial Island". In the 1930s, the Oregon Department of Fish diked/damed the upper mouth of the Sandy to improve the smelt run, with the waters of the upper Sandy being diverted into the lower mouth. The upper mouth became a slough as it filled in with silt. The "island" became pastureland. The area today is known as the Sandy River Delta and includes hiking trails, birding environments, and an off-leash dog park.
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A 1927 Multnomah County map shows "Sun Dial Ranch" being located in the northwest quarter of T1N R3E, Section 23.
In 1941 Troutdale's aluminum plant was built on land once owned by the Sundial Ranch.
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"In November 1941, bulldozers advanced into the green meadows of the Sundial Ranch southeast of Troutdale, Oregon, carving out a site for an aluminum reduction plant. Six months later, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) produced the first lightweight metal at the plant that would be used to fabricate World War II airplanes."
[Sharon Nesbit, 2018, "Troutdale Aluminum Plant", IN: "The Oregon Encyclopedia" website, 2019]
"The 1,825-acre Sun Dial Ranch encompassed the west side of the Sandy River and included "Sun Dial Island." The Sun Dial Ranch, established in 1905, was in a prime location for shipping produce to markets because of its proximity to Portland and to major transportation corridors. Sun Dial Island was located between the former main channel of the Sandy River and Little Sandy River (i.e., the northern portion of the study area). This northern part of the Delta is formed of many ridges and swales. A wide slough or wash (Hourglass Slough), extending east to west through the middle of the island, was once the moorage for a fishwheen scow owned by Doaky Jones, although this is near the downstream limits that fishwheels were used. Fishwheels were outlawed in Oregon in 1926."
Source:
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Sandy River Delta Plan ..., January 1995, U.S.D.A. Forest Service (Lead Agency).
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1918 Topographic map detail, Troudale, Oregon.
Map shows the Columbia River south to Troutdale, Oregon, and includes Lady Island, Fairview and Blue Lakes, Sundial Lake, Company Lake, the Sandy River and the Little Sandy River, and Gary Island. U.S. Geological Survey 1:62,000 "Troutdale Quadrangle".
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1927 Multnomah County map detail, for T1N R3E, showing Sections 23 and 24, Sun Dial Ranch and the Sandy River, Oregon.
Original Metsker Map courtesy "HistoricMapWorks.com" website, 2019.
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1994 Topographic map detail, Columbia River north of Troutdale, Oregon.
Map shows the Columbia River, Lady Island, Washington, and the mouth of the Sandy River, Oregon. Also shown are "Sundial Beach", "Company Lake", the "Troutdale Aluminum plant", and the
"Portland-Troutdale Airport". Original map courtesy National Geographic's "TOPO!", 1994.
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West Sundial Wetlands sign, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken July 2, 2017.
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Lazuli Bunting, male, West Sundial Wetlands, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken July 2, 2017.
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Tad's Chicken 'n Dumplins and Shirley's Tippy Canoe, Troutdale, Oregon ...
Two "eateries" can be found in the 2.5 mile section of Historic Columbia River Highway between the two Sandy River Bridges. Tad's Chicken 'N Dumplins was an original HCRH roadhouse which opened in the early 1920s just after some of the more famous Columbia River Roadhouses opened their doors. According to their website "The original Tad's was primarily a fish-house, a place to eat fresh, local seafood. The food was simple and regional, perfect for hungry travelers and the new migrants.". Today, in addition to the wonderful seafood, local residents flock to Tad's for a bowl of their fantastic Chicken and Dumplings! Shirley's Tippy Canoe Restaurant, located less than 1.5 miles upstream from Tad's, started as a "roadside bar" in the early 1940s, closed in the 1990s, and then re-opened about 2005 with a whole new atmosphere, keeping with the historical value of the old building. Shirley's Tippy Canoe burnded in January 2020.
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"Yes, There Really Was a Tad! ...
Handsome Tad Johnson, known locally as a rascal and a fisherman, (in that order,) opened his roadhouse in the late 1920s at the east end of the Sandy River Bridge. Prohibition was still in effect, the smelt ran free, Bonnie and Clyde made the news and the Historic Columbia River Highway was new then.
This makes Tad's one of the first, and now one of the last, remaining Historic Columbia River Highway roadhouses from that era. To give you some perspective, Tad Johnson's original roadhouse was built just after Multnomah Falls Lodge and a little before Timberline Lodge, making it an important part of the lasting legacy of hospitality in the Columbia River Gorge, the Sandy River Delta and the Mt. Hood Watershed.
The original Tad's was primarily a fish-house, a place to eat fresh, local seafood. The food was simple and regional, perfect for hungry travelers and the new migrants moving into Oregon. As part of that Northwest legacy, we still feature fish and chips and salmon smoked in-house from local Alder trees.
Tad's moved to its current location in the forties. The restaurant added Chicken and Dumplings to the menu and never looked back. After I-84 was built, Tad's was still a local favorite with its dance floor, jukeboxes, lunch counter and later, its open-air patio and full bar. ..."
Source:
Tad's Chicken 'n Dumplins website, 2014.
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Tad's Chicken-n-Dumplins as seen through car window, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken June 30, 2014.
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Tad's Chicken-n-Dumplins, on the Sandy River, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Tad's Chicken-n-Dumplins, on the Sandy River, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken December 29, 2014.
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Shirley's Tippy Canoe Restaurant, on the Sandy River, Troutdale, Oregon.
View from moving car.
Image taken November 11, 2015.
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Shirley's Tippy Canoe Restaurant, on the Sandy River, Troutdale, Oregon.
View from moving car.
Image taken March 17, 2016.
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Troutdale Art Center ...
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The Troutdale Art Center opened early in 2015 and features eight artists, including sculptors Alison Brown (bronze, Oregon Duck) and Rip Caswell (bronze). The building was once the home of Troutdale's "Cook Garage", an Historic Columbia River Highway garage which opened ca.1921.
An advertisement for concord grapes was listed in the October 11, 1922 "Morning Oregonian".
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"CONCORD GRAPES for sale in large quantities, picked, 3 1/2 c per lb. Opposite Cook's garage, Troutdale, Or. J.W. Monhan."
["Morning Oregonian", October 11, 1922, Historic Oregon Newspapers Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, 2016]
An advertisement for "Superior Chevrolets" listed "Cook's Garage, Troutdale, Ore." as a Field Motor Car Company's list of County Distributors in the November 19, 1922 "Sunday Oregonian".
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Troutdale Art Center, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Troutdale Art Center, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Troutdale Art Center, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Troutdale Ferry (Historic) ...
During the last half of the 1800s a ferry crossed the Sandy River approximately two miles upstream from the Sandy's confluence with the Columbia River, today the location of the Oregon community of Troutdale. The approximate crossing was at the location of today's boat launch at the Lewis and Clark State Recreation area. The ferry often transported many Oregon Trail travelers who chose the "river route" from The Dalles instead of the "land route" (Barlow Road). Around 1890 the ferry was replaced by a bridge.
Troutdale Ferry:
"... c.1855-c1900:
A ferry is shown on DLC Map T1N R3E, 1855 near the mouth of the Sandy River. It appears to be still in operation around 1900, as estimated by the dress of the people on a photo of the ferry (Troutdale Historical Society #0377). "Capt. John Harlow petitioned the Multnomah County Court to run a ferry across the Sandy River two miles from its mouth and located on the trail and road from Portland to the Cascades and to run from the west side of the river on the claim of John Harlow to the opposite bank". Petition granted April 7, 1862 for one year. Rates defined. The location of the ferry landing appears to be in the approximate location of the current boat landing at the Lewis and Clark Park.
(Note) The ferry service ended with the building of the "old" bridge and resumed, temporarily, when the "old bridge" was replaced with the current bridge in 1912. The dates of the "old" bridge are not yet defined."
Source:
Charles Floyd Query, 2008, A History of Oregon Ferries since 1826.
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Sandy River, Oregon, near Troutdale, from right bank looking downstream towards Lewis and Clark Recreation Area boat ramp.
Image taken October 18, 2003.
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Boat ramp, Sandy River, Oregon, near Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 7, 2015.
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Boat ramp, Sandy River, Oregon, near Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 7, 2015.
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Troutdale State Bank Building (Historic) ...
In 1920 the Troutdale State Bank opened. In 1921 robbers blew it up. While the bank survived the explosion it did not survive the Depression when it closed for good. Today (2015) it is the law office of Richard A. Weill.
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Law Office Building, originally the Troutdale State Bank, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken March 16, 2015.
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Law Office Building, originally the Troutdale State Bank, Troutdale, Oregon.
Image taken August 22, 2016.
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Note "Historic Columbia River Highway, 100 Years" banner.
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Water Tower ...
"The water tower, a landmark of Troudale's old town skyline, once served the Bissinger Wool Pullery, a firm built in 1920 to process the hides of winter-killed livestock and sheep. The workers at the pullery removed the wool from the hides before sending them on to be tanned.
The Bissinger Company, which employed about 100 workers, made Ripley's Believe It or Not column when a load of hides arrived with a kitten buried in the middle of the stack. The animal, workers said, was flattened and spread-eagles, but alive. Employees massaged the tiny cat until it learned to walk and play. It became the factory mascot and lived to a ripe old age."
Source:
City of Troutdale website, 2017.
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Historic Water Tower, Troutdale, Oregon.
Day overcast and gray.
Image taken September 13, 2011.
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Historic Water Tower, Troutdale, Oregon.
View looking over roofs of the Outlet Stores.
Image taken July 2, 2017.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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