Historic Hood River
Eastside Grade
12-22-2016
Notes
This early automobile (note the righthand drive) is just outside of Hood River, climbing the grade toward Pine Grove.
The History Museum of Hood River County
Bringing the Rich History of Hood River County to Life
L.E.
Charlott headed home!!
charlott
That was quite the road wasn’t it? I can just visualize a Pine Grove orchardist with a load of shifting back and forth apple or pear boxes of fruit going to town. Now what would one do, if they met another truck coming the opposite direction? Wonder if there might have been turn outs along the way? Know my family hauled a great number of loads down there over the years.
In light of the weather conditions we find ourselves in this Christmas time, makes me wonder if it was even possible to go down that road on ice and snow. Know I wouldn’t have been that brave to even think along those lines. Don’t know if there was such a thing as a snow plow. That hillside doesn’t look all that stable and would be set up just right for mud and rock slides during winter time thaws, and we complain about our winter road conditions.
Kenn
Fantastic photo, my number one interest is old roads and trails and how man conquered the terrain.
Longshot
Can’t imagine that the wooden fence along the road would have stood up to more than a light bump even by a light Model T. Would it have been more of a visual guide for horses?
L.E.
Just a few days ago, I was perusing through old HR Glacier pages and saw a notice that someone was laid up with some broken bones after their wagon brake failed and the wagon load ran over the two horses. One horse died and one had to be put down due to a broken leg. By the description, I envisioned it on this road.
Kenn
I assume this is the original route to go east to Mosier, the old "The Dalles Road". Other than this 1850’s military road from Fort Vancouver to Fort The Dalles, I would guess the earliest civilian built road from town to the upper valley would be on the west side of Hood River through upper town. Need opinions.
Arthur
Kenn– this would have been one of two routes to Mosier (the other being the seasonal river road) as well as access to the upper valley by Pine Grove. The Tucker Bridge and Eastside Grade routes up into the valley seem to both go back to early settlement.
Barbara Parsons
I don’t know how they handled snow on roads outside the city, but I remember a road grader being used to plow East May Street. It was the same equipment they used to scrape away the washboard bumps in summer. Does anybody remember sidewalks on the heights being cleared by a horse and narrow snowplow and a man on foot? When I saw him he was going south toward the Piggly Wiggly market or whatever it was called then I was on my way to
Lois Talbot’s piano studio to take my lesson. This might have been during the big snowfalls in the late ’40s.