Historic Hood River
“Bingen on the Columbia”
8-29-2014
Notes
This view of “Bingen on the Columbia” was taken by Judson Ruggles “from the new Columbia River Highway grade between Hood River and Mosier”.
The History Museum of Hood River County
Bringing the Rich History of Hood River County to Life
Steve r
Great shot on Bingen- WA – look at the size of that tower- ! White Structure – right side looks to be …. http://www.gorgeheritage.org/
AndyB
I guess all that farmland had to be diked when the dam came- as you can see today.
Jill
And before the iconic "B" on the hillside
dsc
The tower does not appear to have cables connected to it at this point in time.
Arthur
The original print doesn’t have enough detail to tell if the wires are connected or not.
The note on the image seems to be contemporaneous, so I think the date of 1920’s is accurate. I wasn’t aware of electricity flowing between OR and WA prior to Bonneville (1937), but with the Condit Dam (1913) and Powerdale (1923) I can imagine there was a need for this connection.
l.e.
Interesting photo. That sure looks like a BPA tower. Definitely built for high water, but maybe for yearly spring floods rather than flooding by the dam.
It appears that the tower was the focal point for the photographer.
At first I thought this view was too far east for that building to be the Gorge Heritage Museum/Congregational Church but maybe not. You might be right Steve r.
l.e.
A pre 1937 vie of Bingen.
http://www.portofklickitat.com/about/history/bingen%20point%20%28-1937%29.asp
museumbound
The Congregational Church in Bingen, that is currently the home of the Gorge Heritage Museum was built between 1911 – 1912 and dedicated in May 1912. At first it was on stilts due to floods of the Columbia River each spring. About 1920 – 1922, records vary, the basement was dug out by the women of the church and the men used 1" x 12" boards for forms to pour the concrete basement walls. This is still very evident on the outside walls. Stop in tomorrow Sept 5, 2014 and visit from noon to 5 PM. We will be open for FREE as we celebrate 30 years of preserving history in western Klickitat County and eastern Skamania County.