Historic Hood River
“Working at the Almira”
Notes
I enjoy the detective work trying to figure out what’s going on in some of our photos. This real photo postcard offers plenty of great clues. The message on the reverse is from “Ralph” to “Nell”, with an address of Mrs. Ralph Davies in the Dalles. It has a Parkdale postmark from January 14, 1912.
Dear Nell, am busy working on the Almira. It has been raining the last two days. Only 2 ft of snow left haven’t been up home yet. Chas. + A gone down to the lower place. Awful hard. No train in up to yesterday. Don’t know why. Love to all. Ralph.
The Hood River Glacier from May 22, 1913 reports that there are many new orchards on the highway leading south from Parkdale to the Almira orchard, owned by A. Millard and J. F. Thompson. They say the 116 acre orchard of three year old trees is one of the largest single tracts in the valley.
The January 18, 1912 Hood River Glacier reported many building collapses in the valley due to rain on top of heavy snow. We learn the garage of Captain McCan on Tucker Road collapsed under the weight onto five automobiles. We’ve seen that beautiful house which still exists.
Another article in the same issue describes how hungry workers stranded at Greenpoint by the snow managed to kill a deer who wandered into camp with a butcher knife (workers had the knife, presumably, not the deer).
Charlott
Ralph and Nell (Nellie Loring Roberts) Davies were the parents of Daniel "Dan" Davies. Dan was very involved in anything history wise around Hood River and especially the Parkdale area. He was quite knowledgeable about that area up there.
Almira Orchards I believe were at one time owned by an investment firm out of Omaha. A man by the name of Miller along with J. F. Thompson either were the managers at one time or the owners. Thompson would later own that Reis-Thompson house there by the Hutson museum.
Kenn
Nice detail of pole barn construction.
spinsur
And I’ll take Kenn’s comment a step further, it appears to be pole barn style construction, which I didn’t realize was used back then, and further, it’s shed style on the far side, and cantilevered on the near side!