Historic Hood River
Bone & McDonald General Merchandise
Notes
This is the sort of image that gives me nightmares. The original is so faded it looks like a piece of yellow paper. When I take a very narrow range of tones and spread them out to try to reverse the effects of fading, every water stain and speck of dirt gets amplified. It’s just like a faint and scratchy recording– when you turn up the volume so you can hear it the scratches and pops get louder too. It’s a tradeoff, but I want you to be able to extract some history from this image.
This building is a timeline for late 19th century history, as we learned when we looked at it in its incarnation as the JE Hanna Store. We know from that post that this must be circa 1898. The partnership of Mr. Bone and Mr. McDonald was short-lived. The building was at 1st and Oak, though this print misidentifies it as being at 2nd and Oak.
I suspect the sign painter took his cue from the Edison phonograph logo of the period.
Arlen Sheldrake
thanks Arthur for saving an amazing photograph…don’t see a dog but everybody else showed up for this important moment.
L.E.
I have been looking up information about a Burnette Duncan from Hood River who was investing in land in the area of Camas Prairie, Klickitat Co. WA.
The 1911, HR Glacier makes note several times that B. E. Duncan and Noah W. Bone, have made a trip to Camas Prairie, Klickitat Co. where they plan to plow a large tract of land.
I suspect, it was not a profitable venture for the two.
Tom Kloster
Terrific rescue on this one, Arthur! Some great details hiding in there, too: the little girl on the balcony and a bike on the porch at the edge of the photo.
Thanks for all the work you do to keep Hood River’s history alive!
Tom
Jeffrey W Bryant
The history of this building can be found in this article from the May 29, 1913 Hood River Glacier.
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1913-05-29/ed-1/seq-6/