Historic Hood River
Depot View
11-10-2021
Notes
This Davidson image, circa 1915, shows the “new” Hood River Depot and the Gerdes Hotel, as well as the low-lying land east of the Hood River delta. I’m surprised how many houses and structures there are down in the flood plain near what is now the southern landing of the Hood River- White Salmon Interstate Bridge.
The billboard which would greet rail passengers at the depot advertises real estate in Mosier. It says, “Mosier View Orchards Most Valuable on Earth/ Devlin and Fi?ebaugh.”
The frosting of snow on the Washington hills is a good reminder of what’s to come.
Category: Downtown Hood River
Tags: 1910s, Davidson, depot, Gerdes Hotel, Hood River delta, Hood River depot
Tags: 1910s, Davidson, depot, Gerdes Hotel, Hood River delta, Hood River depot
L.E.
Devlin & Firebaugh from Portland
Their 1911 add in the Hood River News
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83009939/1911-07-26/ed-1/seq-9/
Is this taken from an upstairs window of the Davidson Building?
Basaltgrouse
The add that LE linked to is interesting in that they seem to be selling 5 and 10 acre tracts to primarily outside investors. I wonder if that subdivision of “ranchettes” is identifiable on todays Wasco County GIS map. They were also maintaining the orchard for 5 years before turning the management over to the investor. I bet most of those orchards did not survive. A similar thing happened in the area of Snowden, Mountain Brook, Panakanic, Appleton, and other local areas where very few remnants of the dry farmed orchards survived. Selling land to wealthy outsiders is nothing new.
Will
Funny to note in some of these older landscapes that “the bench” seems to be a natural clearing and not one made by axe to open up one of the best views in the Gorge.
Jeff Bryant
I think some of the old buildings on the lowlands were part of the Indian settlement. Plus they had land in the East hills.