Historic Hood River
Hood River From East Side, circa 1920
Notes
This image of Hood River from the east side loops of the Columbia River Highway comes to us courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation. It is a cropped detail from a hand painted glass lantern slide which was used to publicize the newly completed highway. Of course the beautiful 1920 bridge over the Hood River was the focus of the image, but there is so much else to look at.
We can see downtown Hood River in exceptional detail, though it’s possible artistic license was exercised in the choice of colors.
You can pick out many of the sites in previous Historic Hood River posts, such as the livery, the Mt. Hood Hotel, and the Union Building. Almost dead center is the industrial building in an earlier Mystery Monday photo.
Tomorrow I will be posting a matching image I took from the same location last October.
Jim Gray
So many questions, what is the little red building to the right front, is that building to the east of the present day RR depot a older depot, and didn’t the RR have a round house, where is that located? Great photo, looking forward to the modern photo
l.e.
My compliments to the long ago artist. The color detail is amazing.
spinsur
Jim, I understand the depot was moved at one time; s’pose that’s a freight dock to the east of the passenger depot? The roundhouse (actually I think more of a roundtable, for turning engines/cars) was just upstream of the left edge of this cropped photo.
Dan
I wonder whats in the place currently of the big green wood structure in the center of the photo? And there doesn’t appear to be a 1st. Street in the photo where Big Winds is located now.
Arthur
Dan, click on the "industrial building" link to the left to find out more about that large wood building at Front and Oak.
Arthur
Jim, there are two depots visible– Mt. Hood RR and the OWRR&N (Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, predecessor of Union Pacific). The red tower like building was on the Button Farm, and is visible in the earliest HR photos. Bill Pattison has some stories about it, hopefully he will weigh in.
Dan
thanks Arthur, and I meant Front St. rather than 1st. St.
Arthur
A little more detail on the Mt. Hood Railroad depot– it was constructed in 1911, and removed in 1970. I’ll post some nice pics of it another day.
Bill
Is the bridge still there?
Shawna
Oh wow. What surprised me most is that all the greenery between Front Street and the railroad is NOT there in the 1920 picture! I’d just assumed that was always green.
Charlott
I am interested in knowing what the church spire in the upper left side belongs to. It appears that it might be Oak Street, but don’t ever recall a church with a spire.
Also the big dark rust building at the end of the bridge was gone by the 1940’s and 19’s0’s as that is where the Hood Rliver Distillers was and if I recall right was a greenish building.
The Dalles had the round house out on the east end of town near where the the railroad ties are dipped. Never heard of a round house in Hood River..
Arthur
Charlott, Thanks for your great comments. That spire belonged to the Grace United Brethren Church on the NE corner of 6th and Oak. It was gone by 1928, but we have several photos of it in the archives. Maybe someone knows if they moved or "went out of business."
Charlott
This church was probably a portion of what was called United Brethern Church in Christ. If so it was the first organized American religion, by that meaning others, such as Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, etc. were brought by immigrants to America. This was a church founded in Pennsylvania and branched out from there. It was first introduced into Oregon Territory about 1855, with missionaries coming via wagon train. There are still United Brethern world wide, some with a little variations of the name.
Charlott
There is a bridge, but not this particular one, The one there today angles somewhat to the left of the picture instead of that straight across and sharp turn at the end. Naturally the one there is wider than that particular one.
Kenn
RR had no turning facilities at Hood River. The helper engines for the original climb west to Rowena were put on at The Dalles from an early engine facility at the west end of town. The concrete circle from this original turntable remain north of the original court house. When the RR completed a route west along the river, about 1910, old highway 30 used the original grade over the hill.
ArthurB
Just to clarify for the railroad enthusiasts, the round table at Hood River was for the Mt. Hood Railroad, not the OR&N. It was directly below Bluff Road just south of the station. I don’t know when it was removed, but it appears in the 1935 Bonneville Dam Survey map for Hood River.