Historic Hood River
Hood River From Underwood Mountain, Circa 1915
11-15-2013
Notes
You have to look close to put a date on this view of Hood River from Underwood Mountain. There’s no interstate bridge, and the Hood River waterfront is quite different than today. I can’t make out enough of the downtown buildings to but a precise date, so “circa 1915” will have to do.
Check out the sandy beaches of Wells Island. You can also see Chicken Charlie island and Mosier.
Buzz
I like that view. And the first thing that hit me was, I didn’t realize how narrow the river was where the two promontories stick out on both sides of the river just to the east of Hood River. It has been too many years for me to remember, but is the promontory on the south side where Kobergs is now? And it seems odd they didn’t build the interstate bridge where the river is the narrowest. Guess I should have got better oriented with landmarks on the few days I have spent in Hood River in the last 50 years.
Arthur
The power line crosses at the narrow point, but until the 1950s there was no easy way to get from Hood River to Kobergs without going "up and over".
Rawhyde
I wonder if the dead trees are the remnants of a fire or an early round of bark beetle death.
Buzz
Sometimes trees on tops of mountains with no protection will die from being too windshook. This looks like it might be a prime location.
Longshot2
You can see the fairly distinct timberline along the top of the western slope of Hood River mountain from the fires. Some of the trees in the foreground also show that they have been burned away on one side due to fire.
Buzz
Noticed the large bare spots on mountains east of Hood River. Wondered if they were from burns or large clearcuts. Pretty substantial forest fires.
l.e.
That’s quite the photo!!
I would say a much earlier fire which made for nice wide open viewing.
Bingen really lost a lot of bottom ground in the Bonneville Pool didn’t it? I wonder how much of that was build up from Klickitat River drainage.
Looks like the Belmont and Frankton areas are still farm ground.
s
I could be wrong, but guessing from Google maps and the way the island lines up, wouldn’t that west edge of town on the heights be at somewhere in the 13th-18th street range? And perhaps the southernmost edge at no more than Union or so?
A second thought… the river is high in this picture, isn’t it?