Historic Hood River
Steam Ship Landing
Notes
At high water steamships could come right up to this landing just north of the train station, roughly the location of the present Nichols Basin. The modern sternwheeler Queen of the West docked regularly at the Port of Hood River’s cruise ship dock in the Nichols Basin just to the north of this spot until the November 2006 floods blocked the entrance with over a million cubic yards of sand and rock.
Recent marine users of this space have included a wide variety of craft, including jet skis, kayaks, small sailboats, beginner windsurfers, and most recently standup paddleboards (SUP). A proposal to build a “cable park” in the basin caused considerable controversy in 2012. The Port of Hood River, which owns most of the submerged lands beneath the basin, is currently considering plans for use and access to areas they control.
Charlott
It appears that that is a wagon sitting on the front of the boat.
I imagine that the boat upon approaching would blow it’s whistle and lots of people, especially the children would run down to see it and what was going on. There are people sitting there, probably just watching what was going on.
l.e.
My mother in law grew up on an island in the Columbia River and she talked about the steam ships with such fondness. It was their lifeline to the outside world.
It would pull up to the dock and unload passengers, mail, and supplies.
Probably, for HR, the railroad completely changed the importance of the steam ship.
Waterfront is definitely the life blood of a community. For Hood River, it was in the 1800’s and 1900’s and I suppose the same in the 2000’s, just in a different way.
l.e.
Reading through different history articles, it sounds like HR was not always an easy place to dock a steam ship.
Probably because of the ever famous "changing sandbar" in low water.
nels
So those women walked from downtown, thru the dirt to see the steamship come in. It must have been a bit of excitement to hear the steam whistle. And entertaining to see who and what came off. But then must they go home and spend a day washing and drying and ironing those long skirts? All to cover the leg?
Heather
Wouldn’t the shoreline of Nichols Basin be so much nicer with great old trees overhanging the water like in these pictures? Would make it a much more interesting place to paddle and play. Nicer for fish too.
Ginger
I’ve been trying, without much luck, to find information about my great grandfather Capt. George Scott, who owned and/or operated a steamship or ferry boat on the Columbia River in the 1800’s presumably post-Lewis & Clark. The only clue I have is that he was French and married a Wasco lady. They had three children, two boys and one girl, whose descendants now live at Warm Springs. If there’s anybody who can steer me in the right direction, I would very much appreciate it.