Historic Hood River
Dear Diary
8-11-2020
Notes
You’ll have to work a little for this one but I think it is worth it. A while back an HHR reader sent me a photo his grandparents had taken on their honeymoon in 1923. They took a rail trip from their home in Missouri, stopping in Portland for an excursion on the Columbia River Highway which included a stopover in Hood River. Now he has sent me the diary pages his Grandmother penned starting August 13, 1923, for your reading pleasure. This is the first hand account of a tourist on the Columbia River Highway in its early days. I especially enjoy the discussion over dinner at the Columbia Gorge Hotel, but you’ll have to read it to enjoy!
L.E.
No time to read this morning. I look forward to reading it later today.
Will
Fascinating. She retained everything she saw and learned. The San Bernardino earthquake was 6.2 and occurred the previous month. The mention of the Los Angeles to San Francisco tunnel is odd (if I am reading it correctly), there was a 2.5 mile street car tunnel under SF at that time which is now used by the BART line and perhaps that is what she was referring to. What a honeymoon!
L.E.
Yes, fascinating. A lot of detail with numbers.
I wonder what fish hatchery they stopped at.
L.E.
The Bonneville Hatchery was first called Central Hatchery and was built in 1909.
Kenn
Great diary. I did not know the Mitchell tunnel was built by convicts or that there was a tunnel between LA and SF. Great post.
Jeffrey W Bryant
The Mitchells Point tunnel was not built by convicts. Part of the road around Shell Rock Mountain was built by them, a year or two prior to the tunnel. The Hood River Glacier does a pretty good job of documenting the construction of the Columbia Highway, which took several years to complete.
Cathleen Rehfeld
Just curious, if kids now, can read cursive handwriting, or has cursive become like writing in a “secret code�