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Oneonta Gorge, looking upstream.
Image taken June 29, 2005.
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Oneonta Gorge and Oneonta Creek ...
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Penny Postcard: Oneonta Gorge, Columbia River, Oregon, ca.1920.
Penny Postcard, ca.1920, "Oneonta Gorge, Columbia River.".
Published by The Oregon News Co., Portland, Oregon.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Oneonta in 1940 ...
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From the Oregon State Archives "A 1940 Journey Across Oregon":
"... ONEONTA GORGE, 156.9 m., is a deep, narrow cleft in the basalt bluff through which flows a foaming creek. Fossilized trees caught by a lava flow, are entombed in its perpendicular walls.
Left from the highway on a trail to ONEONTA FALLS, 800 ft., hidden in the depths of the gorge. The water, falling into the narrow ravine, stirs the air into strong currents giving it a delightful coolness even when temperatures nearby are high.
..."
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Oneonta in 1946 ...
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ONEONTA PARKING SPACE
"Oneonta Parking Space at Highway Mile Post 34.31 is situated at the west end of the Oneonta tunnel where the highway crosses Oneonta Creek. In the leisurely days of past years, this site was a railroad flag station, where many came on The Dalles local in the early forenoon and returned to Portland in the early evening with creelswell filled with trout taken from this beautiful stream that flows quietly through a narrow, enchanting gorge, its high cliffed wall clothed with mosses, lichens, an abundance of drooping maiden hair ferns and a liberal sprinkling of golden mimulus (monkey flowers) to enrich the general effect. However, the average visitor must view it afar, as the stream bed is the only pathway to the falls a thousand feet or more distant.
Due to the crowding of the precipitous cliffs at both ends of this stop-light tunnel, the highway has encroached upon the Oregon-Washington Railroad Company's right of way and the limited parking space is their property, which they have graciously leased to the State that travelers may have a chance to stop and glimpse the spectacular rock point and the very interesting Oneonta Gorge picture."
Signed:
W.A. Langille, State Parks Historian.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
"A long-term lease should be obtained on this tract or it should be purchased."
Signed:
S.H. Boardman, State Parks Superintendent, March 25, 1946.
Source:
W.A. Langille and S.H. Boardman, 1946,
State Parks Historical Sketches: Columbia Gorge State Parks, courtesy of
Oregon State Archives website, 2014.
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Historic Columbia River Highway ...
[More Historic Columbia River Highway]
[More HCRH Route]
- HMP 34.3 ... Oneonta Creek/Gorge Bridge (1914)
- HMP 34.3 ... Oneonta Creek/Gorge Bridge (1948)
- Oneonta Gorge Creek Bridge (1914):
"This four-span 80-foot reinforced-concrete deck girder trestle is 24 feet wide and has a roadway measuring 22 feet. The curb and guardrail form an integral unit, cantilevered out from the outside deck girder. The delicate arched railing panels were constructed from plaster concrete and metal lath, and are identical to those seen ont he Multnomah Falls viaducts. A staircase at the western end leads down to the creek, where visitors were encouraged to walk upstream 0.5 miles to view Oneonta Falls."
[National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1996]
"The reinforced concrete girder bridge ... is 80 feet in length. A stairwell is located at the west end for access to the creek and trail. As constructed, the highway at the bridge passed into the Oneonta Tunnel. The tunnel was permanently closed in the late 1940s and a new bridge parallel to this bridge was built. The bridge now serves parking and pedestrian uses."
[National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1983]
- Oneonta Gorge Creek Bridge (1948):
"This reinforced-concrete deck girder span is 48 feet long and was constructed on abutments from a previous railroad bridge. The span bypassed the 1914 Oneonta Gorge Creek Bridge and the Oneonta Tunnel. The railroad's mainline was realigned on fill material and its bridge was moved to a new location over the stream."
[National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1996]
"This reinforced concrete slab span is 80 feet in length, 21.4 feet wide, and consists of four 20-foot slab spans. This bridge was constructted to replace the 1914 brige when Oneonta Tunnel was closed. The highway alignment was changed to skirt the tunnel, which also necessitated a realignment of the railroad tracks to the north."
[National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1983]
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Oneonta Creek, looking downstream at Historic Columbia River Highway Bridge.
Image taken June 29, 2005.
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Historic Columbia River Highway Bridge at Oneonta.
Image taken August 27, 2005.
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Looking downstream at Oneonta Creek, with Railroad Bridge.
Image taken September 23, 2006.
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Bridges crossing Oneonta, Oregon.
Image taken June 29, 2005.
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View looking north showing the original 1914 Columbia River Highway bridge railing, the 1948 new highway bridge (current Highway bridge), and the re-aligned 1948 railroad bridge.
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Oneonta Tunnel ...
In 1914 the Historic Columbia River Highway crossed Oneonta Creek and proceeded on through a newly-built 125-foot-long tunnel through the 200-foot-high bluff on the creek's right bank. With construction of Interstate 84 the tunnel fell into dis-use and in 1948 the tunnel was filled with debris and vegetation covered up the entrances.
[More Historic Columbia River Highway]
[More HCRH Route]
- HMP 34.3 ... Oneonta Tunnel (1914)
- HMP 34.3 ... Oneonta Tunnel (2006)
- Oneonta Tunnel (1914):
"This tunnel consists of a 125-foot straight bore through a 200-foot-tall outcropping of Columbia River basalt. The 20-foot bore has a vertical clearance of just over 19 feet. Concrete was injected into the basalt prior to cutting the tunnel to prevent the outcropping from crumbling onto a nearby railroad mainline. The tunnel was lined with timber sets and lagging. It was bypassed and filled with rubble in 1948."
[National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1996]
"The Oneonta Tunnel is 125 feet from portal to portal. Because of the natural conditions, only 18 feet of rock was left to support the side of the mountain (205 feet) next to the railroad. In order to prevent thousands of tons of rock cascading down onto the adjacent railroad tracks when the blasating began, it was necessary to go to considrable extra work to strengthen the cliff before digging into the tunnel. The weaker sections were plugged with concrete before the blasting started, one of Lancaster's many innovations. Because of the continouous falling of rock from inside and outside the tunnel, the route was changed and the tunnel abandoned in the late 1940s. It is now filled with rubble."
[National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1983]
- Oneonta Tunnel (2006):
In the summer of 2006 the Oneonta Tunnel was dug-out and work began to incorporate the tunnel as part of a walking/bike path along the Historic Columbia River Highway. On August 19, 2006, the tunnel re-opened.
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Penny Postcard: Oneonta Gorge, Rock Tunnel, Columbia River Highway, Oregon, ca.1920.
Penny Postcard, ca.1920.
Caption on front reads: "Rock Tunnel, Oneonta Gorge, Columbia Highway.".
Published by Lelund Lund, Tacoma, Washington.
Card #151.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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Oneonta Gorge tunnel location, Historic Columbia River Highway.
View looking across old bridge at what was once the west portal of the Oneonta Tunnel. The Tunnel has since been filled in. The Historic Columbia River Highway is now on the left, with the railroad tracks left of that.
Image taken October 22, 2005.
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"Re-opening" the Oneonta Tunnel ...
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In the summer of 2006 the Oneonta Tunnel was dug-out and work began to incorporate the tunnel as part of a walking/bike path along the Historic Columbia River Highway.
On August 19, 2006, the tunnel re-opened.
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Oneonta Tunnel west portal construction barriers.
The newly re-opened Oneonta Tunnel can be seen behind the barriers.
Image taken September 23, 2006.
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Oneonta Tunnel east portal.
Image taken September 23, 2006.
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Oneonta Tunnel west portal.
Image taken September 23, 2006.
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Oneonta Tunnel west portal.
Image taken September 23, 2006.
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... 2008 ...
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Oneonta Tunnel, east portal.
Image taken July 27, 2008.
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... 2009 ...
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Oneonta Tunnel, east portal open.
Image taken April 26, 2009.
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Oneonta Tunnel, from tunnel looking east.
Image taken April 26, 2009.
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Oneonta Tunnel, from tunnel looking west.
Image taken April 26, 2009.
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Oneonta Tunnel, west portal, Historic Columbia River Highway.
Original Highway bridge over Oneonta Creek in the foreground.
Image taken April 26, 2009.
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Oneonta Bluffs ...
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The Oneonta Bluffs can be nicely seen from across the river at Washington's St. Cloud Wayside.
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Oneonta Bluffs, as seen from St. Cloud Wayside, Washington.
Image taken June 29, 2005.
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards", with the "Penny Postcard" being a popular way to send greetings to family and friends.
Today the Penny Postcard is a snapshot of history.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, November 2, 1805 ...
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