Historic Hood River
OR&N Bridge
7-7-2022
Notes
This image has the inscription in what I believe is Samuel Blythe’s hand saying, “OR&N Railroad bridge spanning the stream of Hood River.†I am having a little trouble with the chronologies of the railroad bridges. This bridge has very similar construction to the 1883 bridge we say in Carleton Watkins’ view, except for the angle of the first vertical members. We know the bridge was either reworked or replaced when they straightened the line about 1901-02, and this is not the current bridge which I think has a date plate of 1907.
L.E.
Interesting view of the mouth of the River.
ArthurB
It’s not easy to see this as the same river. So much has changed on this short stretch, with massive construction projects like I-84, the HR waterfront, the dike for the RR.
starboard
The concrete piers look suspiciously like the existing piers; I wonder if the 1907 bridge was built on the ’01-’02 abutments; and it appears the wooden structures, bents and wingwall, are from an older bridge? And keep in mind the normal Bonneville Pool elevation would keep the water level higher than pictured here, hence the higher bank on the east side downstream of the bridge.