Historic Hood River
Constructing Cascade Locks, Circa 1895
12-14-2011
Notes
The construction of the Cascade Locks and Canal between 1893 and 1896 was a major improvement in Columbia River navigation. Before the locks were constructed around the Cascades of the Columbia, rail portage from one sternwheeler to another was necessary to bypass the obstacle. These locks and canal operated until the Bonneville Dam and Locks drowned the Cascades in 1937.
spinsur
there’s a pretty cool 1878 approved map of the proposed locks, and a 1938 article discussing some old notes from 1916 discussing facts on the locks at county public works.
nels
Any comments on the elevated ‘thing’ coming or going to the house?
l.e.
I wonder if the workers ate at the Charburger.
l.e.
Reading some Glenwood history today about Oscar Kuhnhausen. He had a farm in the Glenwood Valley, but he was also a skilled blacksmith so he worked on the building of the Cascade Locks, "shaping and tempering the drills for the rock drilling."
He would catch a steamboat back to Bingen or Lyle and walk the six or seven hour trip to the Glenwood Valley.
Charlott
The house up there on the hill houses a very interesting museum, well worth going to see if you haven’t.
l.e.
Reading about Eph Winans I came across this:
"In 1887 Winans helped cut stone for the Cascade Locks lock, said at that time to be the third best piece of masonry work in the world. Commanding officer under whom he worked was Lt. B.M. Young, son of Brigham Young, later became a Major general."
archer
The locks had already been open for years before they built this south wall in order to add a second flooding system (tunnel evident) and have another wall for ship handling. Before this addition the whole dirt bank area was flooded when the pound was full. THere is a colorized postcard of a sternwheeler going through in the early days before this wall was added