The Start, or the End, of the Road

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

The Other Cape Horn…

This is the Cape Horn between The Dalles and Celilo, not the one we think of today...

http://www.northwestphotography.org/Plate11.html
Plate 11: Cape Horn, Near Celilo
Carleton E. Watkins
Albumen silver mammoth print, 1867

http://www.northwestphotography.org/Plate80.html
Plate 80: Upper Cape Horn
Lily E. White
Platinum print, 1903-1905

This is pretty clearly west of Celilo.

The CRH East of Celilo Falls
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. 223.

Not sure when, or if ever, it was called Applegate Point…

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Photo Archive
Catalog Num: 1999.13.94BB
Condition: Good
Date:
Location: The Dalles, Oregon
Title:
Content: No. 160. Applegate Point, on Old Oregon - Trail Highway, near Celilo Ore.
Other Notes: description from above on front no correspondence "sample"
Photographer: B.C. Markham, The Dalles, Oregon
Copyright:http://www.gorgediscovery.org/photoarchive/newDetails.asp?offset=980&ID=2706

Cliffs East of The Dalles (2014)
General area of the Columbia River Highway.
Wasco County, Oregon. March 28, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

 

First two photos from Wild Beauty: Photography of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867-1957

See also…  http://recreatingthehcrh.blogspot.com/2014/03/then-now-west-of-celilo.html

Then & Now: West of Celilo

This photo below is approaching the cliffs seen in the "Cape Horn" photo below it.

Cliffs East of The Dalles (2014)
Wasco County, Oregon. March 28, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

The CRH East of Celilo Falls
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. 223.

This photo is pretty clearly mislabeled. 

I suppose there might have been a mistake made locating the photo since these cliffs resemble the one where the old tunnel was, west of the Deschutes River and east of Celilo Falls.

Looking at the imagery below from Google Earth, though, there is little doubt that the location of the old photo is between The Dalles Dam and the Trunk Railroad crossing.

CRH "East" Of Celilo Falls Location, I-84 Westbound Lanes
Google Street View Imagery Date: October 2007

CRH "East" Of Celilo Falls Location, I-84 Eastbound Lanes
Google Street View Imagery Date: December 2007

CRH "East" Of Celilo Falls Location, Ground Level
Google Earth Imagery Date: August 19, 2011

If this is the correct location of the old photo, then there are probably traces of the old highway underwater in the pond south of the freeway.

CRH "East" Of Celilo Falls Location
Google Earth Imagery Date: August 19, 2011

No. 160. Applegate Point, on Old Oregon - Trail Highway, near Celilo Ore.
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Photo Archive
Catalog Num: 1999.13.94BB
Condition: Good
Date:
Location: The Dalles, Oregon
Title:
Content: No. 160. Applegate Point, on Old Oregon - Trail Highway, near Celilo Ore.
Other Notes: description from above on front no correspondence "sample"
Photographer: B.C. Markham, The Dalles, Oregon
Copyright:
http://www.gorgediscovery.org/photoarchive/newDetails.asp?offset=980&ID=2706