Lewis and Clark's Columbia River
Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Austin Point, Woodland, Washington"
Includes ... Austin Point ... Lewis River ... Woodland ...
Image, 2007, Lewis River, downstream towards mouth, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Lewis River looking towards mouth. Looking towards Austin Point (on the right) and the Columbia River (middle distance). Industry of St. Helens, Oregon, is in the background. Image taken March 29, 2007.


Austin Point ...
Austin Point is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 87.5. Austin Point is the downstream bank (right bank) of the Lewis River and is part of the Lewis River floodplain, also known as the "Woodland Bottoms". The community of Woodland lies to the east. The Port of Woodland purchased the 140 acres of Austin Point in 1961, to be used as a possible shipping dock (The Daily News, 2013). The property includes more than half a mile of Columbia River shoreline and is a popular place for bank fishing. Downstream of Austin Point is another Port of Woodland popular bank fishing spot, Martin's Bar.

Early Austin Point ...
The 1854 cadastral survey (tax survey) for T4N R1W shows "Wm. H. Tappan" having a home on the tip of todays Austin Point.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database (2007) shows William H. Tappan being granted title to 330.61 acres of parts of T4N R1W Sections 4 and 11, on December 22, 1865, under the 1850 Oregon Donation Act, an area which includes todays Austin Point.

The 1888 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's Chart #6144, "Kalama to Fales Landing, Sheet #5" shows "Austin's Pt.".

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Austin Point" official in 1915. Other variant spellings in use were "Austin's Point" and "Austins Point".

So, who was Austin ???


Early Maps ...

Image, 1888, Map detail, NOAA, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		1888, Map detail, Oregon's "Saint Helens" and Washington's "Austin's Pt.". U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey's Chart #6144, "Columbia River, Kalama to Fales Landing, Sheet #5", 1888.

Includes "Saint Helens", "Saint Helens Bar", "Milton's Sta.", "Warrior Pt.", and "Austin's Pt.".

Views ...

Image, 2007, Austin Point, Woodland, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Columbia River beach at Austin Point, Woodland, Washington. Image taken March 29, 2007.


Views from Austin Point ...
Good views of Warrior Point and the Warrior Rock Lighthouse, and the Oregon community of St. Helens with the Columbia County Courthouse can be had from Austin Point.

Image, 2007, Warrior Rock Lighthouse, Sauvie Island, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Warrior Rock and Warrior Rock Lighthouse, Sauvie Island, Oregon. The Warrior Rock Lighthouse sits on Warrior Rock and is visible from Austin Point at the mouth of the Lewis River. Image taken March 29, 2007.
Image, 2007, St. Helens, Oregon, from near mouth Lewis River, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		St. Helens, Oregon. View from just downstream the mouth of the Lewis River, Washington, showing the Columbia County Courthouse and Public Docks. Image taken March 29, 2007.
Image, 2007, St. Helens, Oregon, from near mouth Lewis River, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Columbia County Courthouse, St. Helens, Oregon. View from the Washington side of the Columbia River, just downstream the mouth of the Lewis River, Washington, showing both the old (left) and the new (right) Columbia County Courthouse. Image taken March 29, 2007.


From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, March 29, 1806 ...



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*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, 2003

Sources:
  • The Daily News (Longview), May 2, 2013, "Port of Woodland stepping up security at Austin Point", written by Tom Paulu;
  • NOAA Office of Coast Survey website, 2007;
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management website, 2007;
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management General Land Office (GLO) Records database, 2007;
  • U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database, 2007.
  • Washington Secretary of State website, 2016, "Washington State Library";


All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.
/Regions/Places/austin_point.html
August 2016