Historic Hood River
Aerial View
12-8-2020
Notes
This fine aerial view popped out of our archives recently thanks to the work of the museum’s volunteers. That’s May Street running through the middle. There’s a good view of the High School (now middle school), the original Hood River Memorial Hospital building, and what I believe is the swimming pool. There is a smattering of development along 17th Street.
Based on the few fuzzy automobiles I can see, I’m guessing this is early 1950s.
Category: Downtown Hood River
Tags: 17th Street, aerial, Hood River Middle School, hospital, May Street, pool, school, swimming pool, West side
Tags: 17th Street, aerial, Hood River Middle School, hospital, May Street, pool, school, swimming pool, West side
L.E.
No indication of the steepness of the hill.
Boy, there was a big housing boom after this photo was taken.
Jeffrey W Bryant
This picture shows the 1802 Prospect house of my grandparent’s, Harold and Hap Bryant. Hap’s dad, Robert Vaughan, built it and they were living there as of the 1940 census.
nails
As far as dating this picture, the baseball field is already there and I think that land was donated (after 1940?). And what is that building directly across from the school? which is now a parking lot?
Jeffrey W Bryant
The Robert Vaughan home at 704 13th Street is just out of view in this photo. If this is a cropped photo, I would love to get a copy of the full view.
Will
Interesting that there were stands on both sides of the school athletic field, but apparently no track?
Will
The Baldwin home which was posted June 18, 2020 can be seen in upper left.
Kyle
13th just stopped heading uphill at May… and Jackson Park backed right up to those houses in the heights. I think I want this layout back!
Jeffrey W Bryant
I think the track may be there, running behind the north bleachers. I remember it being cinder rock in the 1960’s.
Arlen L Sheldrake
what a great picture…..during my HS years (1955-1959) the building across from the HS contained the band room and industrial arts. I believe the track was either built or improved in the 1950s with cinders brought in by the national guard from the Prineville area. yes, the pool is there. spent some hours on that hospital roof re-painting hospital beds, a summer part time job.
Dave
nails the building across from the school was the wood shop and band practice and storage area. It burned down in a spectacular fire in the 60’s. Cold night, ice from all the water put down by the fire dept was everywhere.
ArthurB
Sorry Jeffrey, I just cropped the white margins. I didn’t cut any content from this one.
Norma
The high school track was improved about 1957. My father was on the group that organized it and I remember I sent out letters to all high school parents asking to contribute to the project. The cinders came from up in Washington. Different people donated use of trucks and fathers drove up and got the cinders. Can’t remember the exact location they came from. Maybe Goldendale area? Quite a community effort.
Roger Sheldrake
Mr. Elmer Van Blaricom signed my one and only Dragon year book; 1961
Taught shop across the street.
Will
Does anyone know what the large roof is in upper right corner on Sherman?
Charlott
Wasn’t that a little restaurant there to the right of the school before the house on the corner. Seems it was called The Dragonette. I took tap lessons from a Fredova Kruger in the basement of that building in about 1949 to 1950 (in that time frame somewhere.)
L.E.
Somebody’s farm, barn and all still exists at the bottom of the photo. Farther down at the bottom and to the left would have been the beautiful Stranahan house. Wonder if it still existed.
LMH
I’d say this photograph was taken in the late 40’s or very early 50’s judging the height of the trees surrounding the high school (compare with #283). This photo was taken during the summer, notice the football field is being watered.
The building at the bottom, left of center was a plumbing shop. For some reason Edington’s keeps rolling around in my head. It was old when I was young and that’s been a long time ago.
Mr. Van Blaricom had a nickname, "Chief".
Dave
Not sure Chief was a nickname. Rarely heard him called anything else. He went to the same church as I did as a kid and there was no more enthusiastic (and off key) singer in the whole congregation.
cg
The swimming pool was built in 1948 so picture after that. I lived above the ball field and we were paid 25 cents for returned foul balls that came our way.
Charlott
Chief was the name given to Claire Adams who was the custodian for years at Wyeast. He is the one that drew the original "Tuffy…the Eagle."
Barbara Parsons
So you guys had two chiefs and more than enough Indians? MY dad, Harold Parsons, was one of the dads Norma remembers who hauled those red cinders to HRHS. For months there was about a pint of cinders behind the front of our car. We didn’t want to clear them away because they were proof thatbhe had participated.
Barbara Parsons
I thought Edington Plumbing was a little south of the Dairy Delight or did they spell it "Delite"? Uphill, there, a little ways, anyhow.
LMH
Barbara, you are correct about the Edington’s Heating and Plumbing building located on the east side of 12th at June street. According to the Oregon Historic Site DataBase the Edington building was built ca. 1925, however , the Sanborn map of 1928 does not show any construction on that corner until 1928-1942 map. The lastest google map shows only the cement pad remaining.
After digging around for awhile I found the owner of the building on west side of 12th on June street. It was owned by an Englishman named "Percy" Gibbon who with his wife, Johanna Zolls, owned a plumbing and heating business. For a number of years Percy operated out of a shop located down at 908 12th st., he eventually built his shop closer to home at 1213 June St. Johanna and Percy’s home was located further south on the property. Interestingly both structures survive today, the home is a Mexican restaurant and the shop is now a combination home and beauty shop. It was fun researching the John G. Zolls family.
Jeffrey Bryant
Land for the new high school was purchased in 1924 from the Paradise Farm estate.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1924-10-02/ed-1/seq-1/
Jeffrey Bryant
Hood River Glacier, 1925-04-09, page 1. Both Union High Elections Lose.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1925-04-09/ed-1/seq-1/