Historic Hood River
Hold On, It’s Going To Be a Bumpy Ride
Notes
By now you’re aware of the twists and turns our stories can take as we attempt to sort out local history, but this one sets a new high bar. It starts with a photo album lost in our collection since 1990, and ends with a fictitious city in the Upper Hood River Valley created by a man who went on to be editor-in-chief of a major eastern newspaper. Since we’re not in any rush, I’ll lay this out over multiple posts. Let’s take some time to enjoy these fine images.
In 1990, a man names Ten Broeck Cornell sent a letter to the museum which reads, in part:
I have recently found an album of photographs taken by my father in your area sometime during the years 1910-1915. Three men from the general area of New York City, Gifford Uptegrove, Walter Mason, and my father, Ward I. Cornell bought a fruit ranch in sight of Mount Hood. All three men worked the ranch until 1915+/- when my father returned East… Although I briefly visited the ranch in August 1947, the pictures mean little to me and less to anyone else in the East. If any historical agency or individual might find them of interest in your area I would be happy to send them along rather than just destroying them.”
The albums apparently materialized at the museum later that year, and were duly entered into the museum database as item 90.2.1. They were misidentified as scrapbooks instead of photo albums, so they rested in a large collection of scrapbooks for a couple of decades. Last week one of our museum volunteers noted an album of photographs in the scrapbook collection, and she figured we would want to see it. At this moment we’re not sure where the second album is, but that’s a story for another day. This story is about album #1.
Starting this the basics, this album contains 35 nice, clear images which start with the general area and quickly focus in on the U.M.C. (Uptegrove, Mason, Cornell) Ranch near Parkdale. This is the first image: a sharp, well composed view of the Mt. Hood Railroad Depot in Hood River. Cornell has neatly labeled each image in a way which would have made Charlott happy, and completely takes the guess work out of identifying the images.
This depot was built around 1905 for passengers getting off the main line OR&N Co. rails to take the Mt. Hood Railroad up to Odell, Dee and Parkdale. Here are some previous posts highlighting this wonderful structure: here, here, and here. It’s probably not an accident he started the album with this image. The Mt. Hood Railroad would have been the start of a trip to the upper valley in that era, and it would have been the ranch’s lifeline to the outside world.
Will
Arthur: Can you tell us what the sign on the far side of the tracks reads? THx.
JEC
Neatly labeled with incorrect information, this is a photograph of the OR&N depot as seen here: https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org/this-stop-hood-river/
L. E.
I am confused, which is not unusual for me.
A couple of days ago, HHR featured this photo: https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org/hood-river-depot/
It has the same pointy pole on top and beautiful architecture.
So…..if you were coming from Portland or Pendleton and wanted to go to Parkdale….did you get off at this station? Then did you purchase a ticket at this station to ride the Mt Hood train to Parkdale? And did you get on the Mt Hood train at this station?
ArthurB
Good catch, JEC.. that is the mainline OR&N Co. depot, where the cross country train would drop you for the quick walk to the MHRR depot where you could buy a ticket to Parkdale. My guess is Cornell assembled this album years later when he was far away from Hood River and his memory was getting rusty.
nels
If we’re going to be a tourists town we may as well put on the dog. How about building that back on top of the depot for some tourist shots, and maybe a coffee shop on the ground floor?