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Union Pacific Railroad Arch across road leading to Bonneville, Oregon.
Image taken April 13, 2014.
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Bonneville ...
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Bonneville, Oregon, is located at Columbia River Mile (RM) 145, at the location of the Bonneville Dam. Across the Columbia lies North Bonneville, Washington. The Bonneville Post Office was established in March 1900.
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"... This is an historic spot in Oregon. For many decades, it was a popular picnic grounds for people living along the Columbia River between Portland and The Dalles. The railroad company maintained an 'eating house' at Bonneville, where tired travelers paid a modest sum for all they could eat. ..."
[McArthur and McArthur, 2003]
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Captain Bonneville ...
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Bonneville, Oregon, Bonneville Dam, and
North Bonneville, Washington, were named after
Captain (later Brig. General) Benjamin L.E. Bonneville, a West Point graduate who explored the west from 1832 to 1835, visiting many parts of northeast Oregon, although never getting any further west than the John Day River.
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Early Bonneville ...
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The name "Bonneville" did not appear on maps until the late 1880s, and even then it was not consistently shown. The name did appear on the 1886 "Map of the Northern Pacific Railroad and Connections" and on the 1888 "Tourist Map of the Union Pacific and Connecting Lines".
The 1897 "Post Route Map of the State of Washington, showing Post Offices with
the Intermediate Distances on Mail Routes in Operation on the 1st of
September, 1897, published by order of Postmaster General James A. Gary" showed Bonneville as "Bonneville (n.o.)". "Not Official" perhaps ???. McArthur and McArthur (2003) write that the Bonneville Post Office didn't come into existence until March 1900.
The 1908 "Railroad Commission Map of Washington" showed Bonneville on the "Ore. R.R. & Nav." line, and the 1911 topographic map "Mount Hood and Vicinity" listed Bonneville and the Fish Hatchery at Bonneville. The Fish Hatchery was built in 1909.
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The Bonneville Project ...
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Construction of the Bonneville Dam was known as the "Bonneville Project".
Included in this construction was a small workers community at Bonneville, Oregon. As stated in the
Bonneville Dam Historic District, National Historic Landmark 1986 Nomination Form:
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"... Bonneville Dam was to be constructed 42 miles east of Portland and 144 miles upstream from the mouth of the Columbia. Work commenced in October, 1933 ... By June, 1934, the construction, carried out under the oversight of the Portland District, Corps of Engineers, had included excavation for the powerhouse foundation, relocation of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Company's main line (on the Washington shore), and commencement of construction on 20 permanent residences at Bonneville, Oregon. ... In the spring of 1935 the carpenters finished the residences at Bonneville, Oregon ...
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[More]
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Early Maps ...
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Topographic map detail, 1911, Columbia River at Bonneville, before construction of the Bonneville Dam.
Original 1:125,000 "Mount Hood" Topographic Map courtesy University of Washington Libraries, 2010.
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HISTORICAL CHART detail, 1948, Hamilton Island, North Bonneville, and the Bonneville Dam, Skamania County, Washington.
Note location of North Bonneville before the construction of Bonneville Dam's North Powerhouse. Note the arrangement of islands in the Bonneville complex before construction of the 1993 lock.
NOAA Chart #6156 courtesy NOAA website.
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HISTORICAL CHART detail, 1998, Hamilton Island, North Bonneville, and the Bonneville Dam, Skamania County, Washington.
Note location of North Bonneville after relocation due to construction of Bonneville Dam's North Powerhouse, and the existence of three islands in the Columbia (Robins, Bradford, and Cascade) after construction of the new lock.
NOAA Chart #18531 courtesy NOAA website.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, November 2, 1805 ...
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