Historic Hood River
Fossil Oregon, 1928
4-10-2013
Notes
Fossil Oregon wasn’t much of a metropolis in 1928, but Alva Day visited there on business on this dreary February day. You’ll see why tomorrow.
The History Museum of Hood River County
Bringing the Rich History of Hood River County to Life
l.e.
Probably more there in 1928 than there is in 2013.
Wet streets must be an unusual sight for the area.
The Fossil area fascinates me. It "feels" old. Must be why there are dinosaurs in the dirt.
Without looking anything up, it seems like Alva Day had some kind of connection with Fossil.
He was either from there, or died there, or Lo Stewart his wife was from there or he went hunting and fishing there.
That must be his car up ahead that we have become so familiar with.
Kated
I went to Fossil last year, yup, not much different!
db
Actually I don’t think there are dinosaurs in the dirt. Fossils found in the John Day Strata include a wide variety of plants and more than 100 species of mammals, including dogs, cats, oreodonts, saber-toothed tigers, horses, camels, and rodents. The Blue Basin and the Sheep Rock unit contain many of these same fossils, as well as turtles, opossums, and large pigs. More than 60 plant species are fossilized in these strata, such as hydrangea, peas, hawthorn, and mulberry, as well as pines and many deciduous trees. One of the notable plant fossils is the Metasequoia (dawn redwood), a genus thought to have gone extinct worldwide until it was discovered alive in China in the early 20th century
db
In fact, that area is world famous for the numbers and types of mammal fossils found there.
Bill Seaton
I rode through Fossil once on my way to Spray.
nels
There is an old style motel, old individual cabins a la 1920’s, with metal bed frames and such down in California and they have the Dawn Redwood trees there. Had never heard of them previous to being the cheering section at a triathalon down there.
Susan Baldwin
Dear Mr. Day,
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
l.e.
Taking one last look at this photo before I go to bed.
I have to wonder, what was Alva Day’s reason for taking this photo?
The power poles? The wet muddy street, which must be unusual for Fossil? The row of of old, white, store fronts?
Why take this photo when there is a beautiful, photogenic courthouse just down the street?
spinsur
l.e., I’m going to go with Alva seeing the stark beauty of desolation of what appears to be a dying town. Note the light on the falsefront for the sign on the closest building, no sign. No signs of life in the pic. Before spring greenup. Whitewashed buildings, creosote brown poles, brown mud, brown hills. I’m going to give ‘im the benefit of the doubt that he very purposefully took this one, and probably even looked back at the photo and in a moment could be captured by the harsh realities of life in that little patch of cheatgrass.
charlott
Here is a good place to put a question in. I have always wondered exactly what the purpose of the false front on a building was for? Does anyone know? You see them in an awfully lot of old photos nation wide.
steve
or simply perhaps in Alva’s mind this picture represents the issue of trees improperly planted below / near power lines –
Lesa
The thought is that false fronts, which were popular from the 1860’s to the early 1900’s, were mainly to give a town a feeling of permanence in a new area, which did not have the resources to build a full building. Thus many Western towns sported these types of buildings, made to look like their full Eastern counterparts.