Historic Hood River

Notes

Our historic sites are often layered upon earlier historic sites.  This sidewalk detail from the front of Boda’s Kitchen at 404 Oak Street has a few stories to tell.  You probably recognize the tile work which appear to have survived from the original circa 1920 Kelly Brothers Hardware (where Bill Pattison’s father worked).  Its Oregon Historic Sites Database entry says it was also Weber’s Hardware, an appliance store, a shoe store, and a liquor store.  I remember it as Windwing, Northwave Sails, a pawn shop, “Swiss Swell”, a wedding supply store, a deli called the City Market, South Bank Kitchen, then Boda’s Kitchen.  A couple of those lasted less than a year.

But in 2008, when the city was doing an urban renewal project which included new sidewalks, the shop owners were given the option of embedding small trinkets in the sidewalk.  South Bank Market got to embed this dragonfly and the initials SBK made out of what looks like steel wire, and it’s still there, a snapshot of 2008.  Unfortunately not many of the merchants at that time participated in the program, but if you walk up and down Oak Street from 3rd to 6th (the extent of the 2008 project) you’ll see a couple more.  I’ll confess that despite knowing about the program and eating at Boda’s often, I never noticed this particular one before today.

ODOT will be making some sidewalk modifications in the near future.  None of these existing “Easter eggs” will be affected, but who knows, maybe this will be an excuse to leave some history for future rediscovery?

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