Historic Hood River

Notes

This great example of a “cabinet card” shows Mrs. Thomas McKay, whose mother-in-law Henrietta McKay we saw earlier this year.  The McKay’s stay in Hood River included the tragedy of losing two daughters to diphtheria in the same week in 1891.  Jeffrey Bryant provided this family biography:

History of Early Pioneer Families of Hood River, Oregon. Compiled by Mrs. D.M. Coon, Volume 3, page 237
THOMAS McKAY AND FAMILY 1881
Thomas McKay came to Hood River in the spring of 1881; he came in search of a home for his family. He was employed on the railroad and met Mr. C.W. Phelps of Hood River who recommended this community.
After looking through the valley and visiting some of the schools, he bought the Lillie place on Indian Creek, in the Barrett district. His family, at that time, consisted of his wife, a son usually called Tom and a daughter Etta. Another daughter, Anna, had been drowned at Tacoma a short time previous.
Etta soon became a pupil in the school and Tom attended as soon as he was old enough. Two more children were born in Hood River, they were Jessie and Leona.
Mr. McKay was employed away from home much of the time so that improvements were slow but he erected a cozy little house and a good barn and cleared considerable land which he put in crops.
In the years in which the family lived in the valley, they won a warm place in the hearts of the people of the community.
Etta made rapid progress in school, finished the work outlined and secured a teacher’s certificate. In 1891 she was employed to teach the Oak Grove – Barrett school, this district having been recently cut from the Barrett district. The school closed the latter part of August, Jessie McKay being a visitor at the school that day.
A few days later, Jessie was taken sick with diphtheria and lived less than a week; Etta was her nurse and she contracted the disease and died in a few days. Tom and Leona escaped by being isolated in the barn. Mr. and Mrs. McKay sought relief from their sudden bereavement by a change of scene. They moved to Bellingham Bay, where Mr. McKay died two years later. The family now lives at Seaside, Oregon. Tom is a plumber, is married and has one child.

You can also read Mr. McKay’s 1896 obituary here.

This card comes from the heyday of cabinet cards.  It was common to share them with friends or family, or to display them on the mantle.  As photographers were always seeking to make their cards look more modern, details of the card are helpful in dating the image.  You can read all about that here.  This card bears all the signs of being printed in the 1880s or early 1890s.  That stack of rocks is an interesting touch.

Here’s a bit of a chronology of Hood River photo studios based on advertising and mention in The Hood River Glacier:

• 1889:  Mr. G. Boney
• 1891, 1892:  O. M. Pope.
• 1893:  Neff Bros. studios
• 1899, 1902, 1903: L. Bradley Photographer
• 1900:  D. D. Wilder of the Dalles operating out of Riggs Gallery
• 1902, 1903, 1904:  W. D. Rogers Gallery
• 1905: Deitz Studio opens

Mr. Pope charged $2 for a a dozen cabinet cards.

Reader Interactions

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