• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Hood River County History Museum

The History Museum of Hood River County

Bringing the Rich History of Hood River County to Life

  • Donate
  • Become A Member
  • Visit
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Museum Shop
    • Contact Us
  • Experience
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Events
    • Hidden History
    • Ice Cream Social
  • Discover
    • Historic Hood River Photo Blog
    • Research
    • Tours
    • Walking Tours
    • School Resources
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Collections Donations
  • Calendar
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Home Historic Hood River Eph Winans, 1948

Historic Hood River

Continue Reading

« WRC
Lawrence N. Blowers »

Eph Winans, 1948

8-20-2020
Eph Winans, 1948

Continue Reading

‹
›

Notes

This view of Eph Winans is from a Kodacolor print dated July 1948. As is common for color prints of that vintage it was badly faded and mostly yellow. I did my best to tease out a little color, but not much is there to work with.

Winans penned a column in the Hood River News with his reminiscences of life in the 1880s. It was published between 1949 and 1950 under the title, “Hood River … as I Have Known It.” The Hood River Historical Society republished them in the 1990s.

Category: default
Tags: 1940s, State Street, Winans

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dale Nicol

    20th August 2020 @ 07:05 AM

    Eph is standing in front of a new 1948 Studebaker Champion convertible.

  2. Nellie

    20th August 2020 @ 07:17 AM

    Ephraim Thomas Winans was born in Kansas on 20 February 1862 to Edgar
    William and Elizabeth (Kinney) Winans. The family moved from Kansas to Hancock County, Illinois where Eph basically grew up. The family eventually made their way west and by 1900 were living in Hood River County (then Wasco County). Eph did a number of things and in the 1920's worked in the mill in Skamania County. As he never married he spent his elderly years with first his sister Margaret Neff and then Martha Spalding in Hood River.

    His little writings are very interesting. My grandfather was a very good friend of his and I have the little book that Eph autographed for him.

  3. Melody Shellman

    20th August 2020 @ 08:15 AM

    Is that the Sheppard's building behind him, looking east on State Street?

  4. Arlen L Sheldrake

    20th August 2020 @ 08:42 AM

    I would say yes Melody.

  5. nels

    20th August 2020 @ 10:17 AM

    Wish we still had those old style street lights. THey give off a softer glow. Wonder what ever happened to them.

  6. nels

    20th August 2020 @ 11:22 AM

    Are Mr. Winan's writing available at the library or HR Museum?

  7. Kalley

    20th August 2020 @ 11:37 AM

    Arthur, do you have the plot map for the Town of Winan's? When I was on the county planning commission, I saw the plotted out map for The Town of Winan's. It was so interesting that a whole township was plotted out there. Iowa Drive is there now.

  8. ArthurB

    20th August 2020 @ 03:46 PM

    I haven't seen the map for Winans, but I know the county records include several maps like that. I published the 1883 map for Belmont a while ago. I think those are examples of people's ambitions outstripping their wallet.

    nels, I think there's a good chance the library has a copy of the “Hood River … as I Have Known It” pamphlet which was reprinted in the 1990's. I'm sure there's one at the museum someplace too but we're not able to have visitors right now, so the library is your best bet.

  9. Kate A McBride

    1st September 2020 @ 07:58 PM

    I lived on Iowa Drive in the plotted town of Winans. Our title insurance showed the map with many individually plotted lots. I believe there was an Indiana drive behind our house to the north.

  10. Barbara Parsons

    15th December 2020 @ 12:43 PM

    I recognized Eph Winans before I read the text! I was 3 when we moved to
    Hood River, and he went to our church, so I guess his image was implanted in my mind
    . My mother always pointed him out as the man who knew the most about the area. I remember going to a program where he told some Indian legends.

    Also, I remember a Sunday when Eph was about to sit down on a three-legged chair in the Knights of Pythias hall where our church met. He was creaking slowly down to thevseat, when my mother started yelling his name and dashing to stop him before he could put any weight on it. She pulled the unsafe chair right out from under him and slipped a good one in its place. No wonder our church called its women's auxiliary the Relief Society.

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Comments

  • Pat A on Rural Electrification
  • L.E. on Rural Electrification
  • Roger Sheldrake on Rural Electrification
  • JEC on Rural Electrification
  • Pat A on Rural Electrification
  • nels on Rural Electrification
  • Dale Nicol on Rural Electrification
  • David Evans on Line Crew
  • L.E. on Line Crew
  • ArthurB on Line Crew

Explore more

Donate Become A Member Volunteer

Footer

The History Museum of Hood River County

300 E Port Marina Dr
PO BOX 781
Hood River, OR 97031

541-386-6772

Keep In Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · The History Museum of Hood River County · Log in

About

  • Mission & History
  • Staff
  • Board

Support

  • Membership
  • Donate
  • Volunteer

Sign Up For Our Newsletter