Historic Hood River
Nichols Boat Works
1-10-2018
Notes
Remember this building? The Nichols Boat Works operated at the south end of what we now call Nichols Basin until 1998. The building was removed around 2008, with the site redeveloped as a hotel, commercial building, and a city park. If you go down to the park today you can still find the rails used to launch ships into the Columbia.
Here’s a bit of history of the Boat Works. We’ll get a bit more of the history tomorrow.
This is from a nice collection of Joe Kollas photos we recently received from an HHR reader.
Category: Downtown Hood River
Tags: 1970s, Columbia River, Kollas, Nichols Basin, Nichols Boat Works, Port of Hood River
Tags: 1970s, Columbia River, Kollas, Nichols Basin, Nichols Boat Works, Port of Hood River
Arlen Sheldrake
yes, the Port of Cascade Lock paddler, built by Nichols, is parked for the winter at the Portland Spirit dock just west of the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.
Norma
Probably late 40’s or early 50’s but can remember seeing them launch a boat there.
L.E.
Interesting reading through the list of boats and how many are still active. Many of them were built for the lower Columbia. I am familiar with Hickey Marine, the Brusco family and Bachelor Island Ranch.
If Nichols had remained, would the sand bar have affected their business?
Was there a big barn up on Country Club Road that was connected to the Nichols family?
spinsur
Wasn’t the most recent building removed in 2008 newer than this photo shows? Perhaps rebuilt in seventies or so to an all-metal building?
Jim Mason
I had the pleasure of watching Fireball work on the river as I grew up in Rainier, Oregon. Here’s more information; http://www.tugboatinformation.com/tug.cfm?id=6914
Dayne Weatherill
I’d assume this building was sitting on the west bank, to the west of the where the newer large metal building was erected.
Carol Jean Hawkins Solomon
My dad, Spruce Hawkins, worked here in about 1947.
Scott Jacox
The barn on Country Club Road was our old farm, had 68 acres