Before the Ocean
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
The Beginning (2013)
Pacific Ocean from the western terminus of the Columbia River Highway. Seaside, Oregon. March 27, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved
Originally I based my "start" of the Columbia River Highway in Seaside on Clarence Mershon's use of the Lewis and Clark roundabout as the western terminus of the highway. However, as I've read through the old Oregon State Highway Commission documents, I am starting to feel that this is more of a romantic choice than a technically accurate choice.
I am beginning to believe that the route from Astoria to Seaside was never actually intended to be the "end" of the CRH (Route 2), but rather the beginning of the Coast Highway (Route 3).
However, for a very short period, this section of roadway may have been considered to be a part of the CRH, if not in official designation, at least in spirit... Regardless of the OHC’s designation, Samuel Lancaster himself, in his 1915 book, seems to indicate that the highway ends in Seaside, so it is really a tough call to make.
Seaside - The End Of The Lewis And Clark Trail
Samuel C. Lancaster. The Columbia: America's Great Highway. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1915. Reprinted 2004.
Seaside "Turn-Around"
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. (5)
Soon after its founding, the Oregon Highway Commission decided to extend the Columbia River Highway (CRH) westward to Seaside. On November 4, 1913, Clatsop County voters approved a bond issue for $400,000 for highway construction. By April 1914, forty-six miles of roadway, much of it through standing timber, had been surveyed. As planned, Seaside became the western terminus of the CRH. From Seaside, the highway paralleled the ocean beaches for twelve miles, then cut across lowlands another twelve miles into Astoria.
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. (7)
Turn-around at Seaside, Oregon, ca. 1937
Turn-around at Seaside, a resort town on the North Oregon Coast in Clatsop County. People sit in the sunshine on park benches lining the sidewalk of the turn-around. The Pacific Ocean is in the background.
Photographer: Ralph Gifford
Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation, OHDG215
http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm/singleitem/collection/orarc/id/2
Seaside "Turn-Around" (2014)
The western terminus of the Columbia River Highway.
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Original Western Terminus of the Columbia River Highway
Google Earth, 2012 Image
Originally considered the western terminus of the Columbia River Highway, the "turn-around" at Seaside lost that status when the State Highway Commission proposed a 430-mile highway from Astoria to the California state line. Seaside, given "End-of-the-Trail" recognition by historians because of the salt cairn established there by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was a logical choice as the western terminus of the great highway that followed in the "footsteps of Lewis and Clark" from Umatilla to the Oregon Coast.
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. (5)
Seaside Roundabout and Promenade (2014)
Columbia River Highway Terminus. Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Monument and Highway (2014)
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Still Looking West (2014)
Lewis and Clark "End of the Trail" Monument. Western Terminus, HCRH.
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
End of the Trail Base (2014)
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Promenade Dedication Plaque
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Start of the Columbia River Highway (2014)
Broadway St. Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved
Oregon State Highway Commission - 4th Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Covering the Period December 1st, 1918 to November 30th, 1920
http://digital.lib.pdx.edu/oscdl/files/odot/pdx005t0003.pdf
Oregon State Highway Commission - 4th Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Covering the Period December 1st, 1918 to November 30th, 1920
http://digital.lib.pdx.edu/oscdl/files/odot/pdx005t0003.pdf
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