Though I wasn't born in Rainier, Oregon,
my parents moved there when I was two years old, so I will always
consider it my hometown. And because of that, I just had to do a page on
it. It took me a while to get around to it, and it took my moving to
Salem to really focus on getting it done. I was surprised to find that a
lot of Rainier's history had been documented and was readily available.
Most of the information on this page that didn't come from my own
recollections or on the buildings themselves comes either from archives
of the
Clatskanie Chief, the
Columbia
County Historian, or
The Story of Rainier 1805-1925 by Anna Zerzyke.
I have also taken information from a
History of Rainier by
Mrs. Grace Reid, written around 1914 and republished in the 2008
Rainier Days in the Park program.
Another good reference is
Michael Clark's Written History, Historical Images & Memorabilia of
Rainier, Oregon website.
Early History
The town of Rainier was
founded by Charles E. Fox, who came to the area in 1850. Fox opened the
first Post Office in Rainier (though there would not be an established
government Post Office until many years later) in 1851. He originally
called the town Eminence, but officially changed the name to Rainier on
January 6, 1852. The town takes its name from Mt. Rainier in Washington.
The mountain was named in 1792 by George Vancouver for Rear-Admiral
Peter Rainier of the British Royal Navy. Rainier was incorporated as a
town in 1885.
Charles Fox is said to have
donated 24 acres in 1852 for a townsite, which he platted in 1855.
Rainier's street layout originated with Fox's plat. Starting at the
river were Water Street, Commercial Street and Union Street, now known
as A, B and C Streets. They were intersected by Quincy Street, New
Bedford Street, Virginia Street, Cowlitz Street and Washington Street,
now known as East Second through East Sixth Streets.
Fox left Rainier in 1863, by
which time the town had very nearly died off. But at the same time, a
man named Dean Blanchard arrived. Blanchard had first visited Rainier in
April 14, 1854 on his way to Portland. On November 6, 1863, he came to
stay and began building business interests, including a mill, a store
and an established government Post Office (before 1863, Rainier was just
a place to drop mail off from the boats on the river), upon which the
city would build.
Blanchard replatted the city
in 1888. The layout was much the same as Fox's plat, though Blanchard's
had wider streets, and added Harrison Street (now First Street), Alder
Street (now D Street) and Ash Street (now E Street). Blanchard's plat
would officially replace Fox's in 1907.
Biography of Dean Blanchard, courtesy of Michael Clark's website.
On December 24, 1892, George
Moeck added Cleveland, Carlisle, Columbia and California Streets (now
West Third through Sixth Streets) and extended Water, Commercial and
Union Streets through them. West of this point was an area originally
known as Cedar Landing in 1850 that later become known as Kentucky
Flats. In 1903, Kentucky Flats was platted by Blanchard. In this
addition, the streets in line with Water, Commercial and Union Streets
were instead called First, Second and Third Streets. The cross streets
were Market, Blanchard, Watts, Plue, Harris and Nordby (now West Seventh
through Twelfth Streets). At the time, Kentucky Flats wasn't really
considered part of Rainier, and wouldn't be until another addition
platted in 1912 west of Kentucky Flats became known as West Rainier. In
1907, Moeck platted the land between Cleveland and Carlisle (now West
Third and Fourth), adding Oak, Pine and Maple Streets (now F, G and H
Streets, though H Street has never actually existed).
Biography of George F. Moeck, courtesy of Michael Clark's website.
Another addition made in
1913, and not shown on my maps, is the area known as Roxy Park, south of
the east part of town. Quincy and Virginia Streets (now East Second and
Fourth Streets) stretched into Roxy Park.
In 1923 or 1924, the streets
in Rainier were renamed to their current naming system of lettered and
numbered streets. Interestingly enough, the streets in Roxy Park kept
their old names, except for East Second Street. In Roxy Park, East
Fourth Street becomes Virginia Street. There is also a New Bedford
Street in Roxy Park, approximately in line with East Third Street,
though it is not actually connected.
Recent History
Today, Rainier is best known
for something that is actually six miles from the city limits. Oregon's
only nuclear power plant was the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. The plant
is actually closer to the very small town of Goble, Oregon, but Rainier
is the closest town of significance and is where most of the plant's
employees lived. Trojan opened in 1976, on a 634 acre site that was
once the home of a dynamite factory called the Trojan Powder Works. The
plant shut down in 1993, due to minor problems that
Portland General
Electric decided weren't economical to correct since, at 17 years, the
plant was over halfway through its operational life anyway. In 1995, the
steam generators and pressurizer were removed, and the reactor was
removed in August 1999. The plant's spent fuel rods were originally kept
in the ponds on the site, but by 2004 all had been removed from the
ponds and encased in concrete casks, which will remain on the site until
the U.S. Government opens the nuclear waste disposal facility at Yucca
Mountain, Nevada. The facility is not scheduled to begin receiving
Trojan's material until 2013, meaning the Trojan site will not be
cleared of all nuclear material until 2018 to 2024. The plant's
buildings, including the tall cooling tower, were expected to remain
until that time, however demolition of the power plant buildings began
in March of 2006. The cooling tower was demolished by implosion at 7:00
AM on the morning of May 21, 2006. Trojan's grounds have been maintained as a public park
called
Trojan Park by Portland General Electric since the plant opened, and
continue to remain as such.
For more information on the
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, see
Trojan in Twilight.
Matt Groening, creator of
The Simpsons, is an Oregonian, and it is widely believed that the
nuclear power plant that Homer Simpson works at in Springfield was
inspired by Trojan. Also, a minor character on The Simpsons, the
Schwarzenegger-esque movie star who plays the character of "McBain," is
named Rainier Wolfcastle.
Rainier's other claim to
fame is the 2000 motion picture
Men of Honor, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
and Robert De Niro. The scenes on the Navy base in the movie were filmed
near Dibblee Beach on the Columbia River just west of Rainier. The
buildings of the base were just sets built for the movie and were
demolished after filming.
Now that the basic history
is covered, we can start the tour.
1. Dibblee House
313 B
Street East
This is the oldest house in Rainier. It was built in
1851 as an overnight rest stop for travelers on the Columbia River. John
Dibblee and his family moved to Rainier in 1869 and lived in this house.
John Dibblee died July 12, 1910, but his wife Sarah was still living in
the house in 1925. In her History of Rainier, written around 1914, Mrs.
Grace Reid notes that the original builder and owner of the house would
no longer recognize it, due to the alterations to the house and street
improvements. Its depiction on the "Rainier - The River Town" mural
shows it looking largely as it does today, but painted white. The house is owned by Marie Oberg, but is currently
for sale. The house's 3024 square feet includes 3 apartments and, until
recently,
Twin Gables Antiques.
2. George Moeck House
713 B Street
West
This house is known by most people as the 1888 House,
and it even has the words "1888 House" on it, and an "1888 House" sign
in front of it, but officially it is the Moeck House. It was built in 1888, naturally,
as the home of George F. Moeck. Moeck once owned most of West Rainier,
the area known as Kentucky Flats. Moeck was a founding member of the
Rainier Masonic Lodge and was postmaster of the Rainier post office from
1892-1897. The Moeck House was placed on the National Register of
Historic Places on April 14, 1978.
3. Masonic Lodge
220 C Street
East
Rainier Masonic Lodge #24 A.F. & A.M. (A.F. &
A.M. stands for Ancient Free and Accepted Masons) received its
charter on July 16, 1858. George F. Moeck was a founding member. The
lodge building was built in 1894. Until recently, it was also the home
of the Rainier Senior Center. (Note: The website of the
Oregon Free
Masons lists the address of the Rainier Lodge as 22 East C Street, but
this address is wrong. There are no 2 digit addresses on the lettered
streets in Rainer. The lodge is in the 200 block of C Street East. I
didn't notice an address on the lodge building, but considering the
lodge's location, 220 has to be close.)
4. 102 A Street
East
This building
is one of the oldest buildings in Rainier. It is probably best
remembered as the old Rainier Pharmacy with a lunch counter and soda
fountain. It is currently a restaurant called the Cornerstone.
Photograph of A Street in the 1920s, showing this building as well as
the hardware store building and the hotel/theater building, courtesy of
Michael Clark's website.
The building
has been threatened by fire at least twice. Once by the fire of June 28,
1924, that destroyed most of the business district across A Street. The
other fire occurred in the apartments upstairs in the late 1990s. The
fire spread quickly in the old wood building, but fortunately the
Rainier Fire Department was practicing just down the street and were
able to respond almost immediately. Still, only one original upstairs
window survived the fire: the main window of the bay-window. Some smoke
damage from the fire can also still be seen at the top of the front
fascia.
Notice the
railroad tracks running down the middle of the street. Rainier's
railroad depot, built in 1899 and expanded several times, used to be next
door to this building. Passenger service ended in 1952, and the railroad
demolished the depot when it had no further use for it. The
St. Helens
Community Federal Credit Union's branch is on the site now.
Photograph of the Rainier railroad depot, courtesy of Michael Clark's
website.
Passenger
service briefly returned for the summers of 2003-2005 in honor of the
Lewis & Clark Expedition. Here are some
pictures of the
Lewis & Clark Explorer running down A Street
near the end of the final season in 2005.
5.
102 A Street West
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This large
building was actually built in two parts. The part from the street
corner to the entry to the second floor (next to the soda machine) is
the oldest part. I believe the original building was built shortly after
the turn of the century, while the addition to the west was built about
two decades later. The store was a Variety Store and Furniture Store for
many years and that is how most remember it. Rainier
True Value Hardware
moved into the building in the summer of 2002, after rebuilding the
storefronts and opening up the first floor between the two "buildings."
The original hardwood floors remain though.
6. United Methodist
Church
101 C Street East
The oldest
church in Rainier, the
United Methodist Church was built in 1905 and was
dedicated March 11, 1906. It has been expanded a little since then. A
house behind the church (not visible) is also owned by the church and
used as a parsonage.
Early photograph of the Methodist Church, courtesy of Michael Clark's
website.
7. Bank of America
203 A Street East
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There's
something about banks that makes them hide the age of their buildings.
This bank opened as the State Bank of Rainier in 1906. John Dibblee was
one of the original directors. The building has been remodeled twice. In
1961 it was enlarged and given a modern appearance. In the 1980s some of
the west side of the building was removed to make room for a drive
through window. The bank has changed its name several times. In 1970 the
State Bank of Rainier merged into the Oregon Bank. In 1988 it became
Security Pacific Bank.
Bank of America took over in 1992. The branch
nearly closed in 2005, but a massive letter-writing campaign by Rainier
residents convinced Bank of America to keep the branch open.
8. Luigi's Pizza
119 First Street
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This building
was built around 1908. It has a basement underneath, and there were once
glass blocks in the adjacent sidewalk on B Street to let light in. I
don't know the building's original use, but it was a hardware store
during the 1950s. It has since become a
pizza place. Before becoming Luigi's Pizza years ago, it
was called Busy Bee's Pizza, and had a glass box inside acting as a
honeybee hive. A pipe through the wall let the bees get outside.
9. Catholic Church
211 East Second Street
The Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church was built in 1909 and dedicated
in 1910. Its timeless architecture hasn't been changed much since then.
10. 107 First
Street
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This is another old commercial building. I think it
dates from sometime after 1910. It is currently the home of
More Power
Computer Upgrades and the Rainier Barber Shop. There are old vending
machines for soda and candy in the alcove on the left that have been
abandoned and forgotten for many years.
11. Rainier
Elementary School
305 West Third Street
The first
school was built on this site in 1895. It was expanded by 1907. At that
time the school was a large wood-frame building. The town was rapidly
outgrowing the school, and the city began searching for a site for a new
high school. No suitable site could be found, and the high school ended
up being built on the back of the existing school building. The new high
school was a large modern concrete 4-story building, but it wasn't
enough. Rainier would end up taking in high-school age students from the
small schools outside of town, and in October 1924, the new Rainier
Union High School opened. The 1915-built high school became a part of
the adjacent elementary school.
Photograph of the wood Rainier Elementary School, courtesy of Michael
Clark's website.
Photograph of the
1915 Rainier High School, courtesy of Michael Clark's website.
On April 13,
1949, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck near Olympia, Washington. The
earthquake caused $1.5 million in damage, including significant damage
to Rainier Elementary School. The school had to be almost completely
rebuilt, in rambling 1950's style, and today it bears almost no
resemblance to the impressive and unusual structure it replaced. Almost.
On the east
side of the building, the remains of the 1915 High School are in plain
sight. The concrete walls with the large blanked windows were originally
the bottom two floors of the 1915 High School. Originally two more tall
floors towered over above those two lower floors which are cut into the
hill as a foundation. The earthquake caused most of the school to
collapse, and when the school was rebuilt, a gymnasium was built inside
the old high school walls. As a gymnasium (which, incidentally, is too small to be used
for any actual games), there is no second floor, except in the southeast
corner. Behind the unblanked windows on the second floor is one
classroom (beneath it is the boys' locker room) that seems to be left over
from the original school. A staircase in the gym leads up to a door,
that looks like a closet door. Behind that door is the room. Another
door on the room's west wall has a tilting glass transom and leads to
what seems to be a closet. But, that was the room's main door, and I
think the "closet" used to be part of the corridor. At one
point the room was used as a band room, but in 2004 the chalkboard still
had arithmetic problems on it from when it was last used.
In 2004, the
Rainier School District sold the building to the Riverside Community
Church. The church rents out most of the classrooms to others,
including the Rainier School District's charter school North Columbia
Academy. As for that one classroom from 1915, it is currently the home of the
Longview, Kelso & Rainier Model Railroad Club.
12. 103 C Street
West
I really don't
know much about this building. All I really remember about it is that it
was a chiropractor's office a few years ago. The second floor was once
used as a roller rink. It had to be built in the
1910s or 1920s. Its size suggests it may have originally been a lodge.
Possibilities include the Knights of Pythias Hall that replaced an
earlier one that burned in 1916, or the Odd Fellows Hall built in 1920.
13. 100 Block A
Street East
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These buildings
were built to replace those destroyed in the fire of June 28, 1924. The
two story building in the foreground is best known as the former home of
Rainier Coast-to-Coast Hardware. The hardware store started in the
one-story building next door and grew to include the two story building
as well. Coast-to-Coast merged with
True Value in 1997, but this
building kept
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Coast-to-Coast signs for some time after. In 2002, Rainier
Hardware moved down the street to 102 A Street West. Except
for a brief stint as an auction house, the storefront remained
vacant until becoming the Rainier Marina Market, which opened on April
26, 2008. The second one-story building has been the home of Fred Bell
Studios for several years.
14. Hotel Rainier
109 A Street
East
The Hotel
Rainier was built after the fire of June 28, 1924 destroyed the old
Hotel Rainier that was in the same place. The storefronts on the first
floor include the Ol' Pastime Tavern, and the old Rainier Theatre. The
building and tavern were purchased in 2008 by Sloan and Jennifer Nelson.
The second floor originally had a balcony
overlooking the street. The original balcony was removed in the mid-1990s, but
the door and the beams that supported it remained in place. After
purchasing the building in 2008, the Nelsons built a new balcony in
place of the original.
The
entrance leading to the stairs to the hotel rooms above has been
restored. The original home of the Rainier Theatre, which had been
Rainier Appliance for many years until that business moved into the
former Elam's space on the highway, is now home to Noni's Necessities.
The ground floor also houses the offices of the Nelsons' Hometown
Property Management.
Rainier Theatre at CinemaTour
In the 1990s, a
mural was painted on the Hotel's west wall. The mural, titled "Rainier -
The River Town," loosely depicts Rainier in the early 1900s, and was painted by Rainier Elementary School students under the
direction of
artist Lynn Takata. The mural was
sponsored by the Rainier School District, the Oregon Arts Commission,
Artists in Education, the Rainier Elementary PTO and the Rainier
Kiwanis, with special thanks to Marie Oberg (who was Rainier Elementary's
Librarian at the time) & Esther & Larry Gates.
The mural includes several scenes of riverboats and
industries that were prevalent in Rainier at the turn of the century
including agriculture and a sawmill.
One
of the more interesting items included in the mural is this depiction of
Rainier's fort, which has been described as actually being more of a
stockade, consisting of logs stood on end to form a wall 40-50 feet
high, topped with a sentinel platform, and without a blockhouse as
depicted here. It was built around 1858 to serve as a storehouse
and to offer protection and defense from Native Americans, though they
never posed much of a threat to the residents of Rainier. Rainier was
never attacked by Native Americans, and only once early in its history
were the town's women and children gathered inside due to concern about
an attack that never occurred. The fort was eventually abandoned and all
trace of it disappeared in the late 1800s.
The mural also includes depictions of several of the
historic buildings covered on this page:
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Dibblee House |
Catholic Church |
Methodist Church |
102 A Street East |
Moeck House |
15. Rainier Union
High School
604 E Street
East
Rainier
Union High School opened in October, 1924, to take in high-school age
students from the small schools around Rainier as well as the students
within the city limits. It sits on over 12 acres of land. With
the construction of Hudson Park Elementary and a new High School at the
Briarcliff campus in 1978, the
Rainier School District
consolidated all students
in the area, and the Union High School building became Rainier Middle
School, housing 7th and 8th grade students. A district restructuring in
2001 added 6th grade students. In 2003 the district consolidated all
students into Briarcliff, and the building was put up for sale. In 2004
it was purchased by the Church of Truth of Vancouver, Washington.
Pictured
at left are the cornerstone and dedication plaque for the new Rainier
High School at the Briarcliff campus. They are not located at the old
high school in town (pictured above) that the new high school replaced,
but I am including them here because I don't have anywhere else for
them.
16. City Hall
106 B Street
West
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Rainier's City
Hall was built by 1925. It includes the Rainier
Police Department and the Rainier City Library. Originally, a tower
behind the southeast corner contained a siren to alert the fire
department volunteers in the event of a fire before radio and
telephone's became widespread. There were also cannons in front
originally, though at that time the street was not as wide, so there was
more room for them.
Photograph of City Hall in the 1920s, courtesy of Michael Clark's
website.
The Library has
been confined to its original home in the northeast corner of the main
floor since the building was built. An elevator is due to be installed
to make the top floor ADA Accessible, and then the Library will be able
to move upstairs where it will have more space.
17. 100 Block B
Street East
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The building on
the corner was once a grocery store. Until 2007, it had been the home of
Elam's Home
Furnishings, which had expanded down the block over the years to take up almost the entire block,
which wasn't easy, as the
floor of each storefront is at a different elevation. The corner is now home to Rainier Appliance, with various
small local businesses in the other storefronts.
This building in the 100 block of East B Street was
part of Elam's Home Furnishings until 2007. Note that it is a completely
separate building; Elam's built a small structure between the buildings
and cut through the exterior walls to connect them. The storefronts are
now available to local small businesses.
18. 202 A Street
East
On this corner
once stood the Grand Hotel, a large 4-story wood frame building that was
built in 1899 and destroyed by fire in July 1924. This building used to
be the U.S. Post Office in Rainier. Today it is home to Tri-City
Insurance.
19. United States
Post Office
207 A Street West
This is the
current U.S. Post Office in Rainier. It was built in the 1990s. When it
was built, A Street had to be extended slightly. The street originally
ended at the intersection with West Second Street. Though Charles
Fox started a Post Office in 1851, Rainier's first
government Post Office opened in 1863 and was located in a store building at the
corner of East 5th Street and A Street East. The Rainier
Post Office has never been in a building owned by the U.S. Postal
Service. Even the current building is only leased.
20. United States
Gypsum
29073 Dike
Road
This
United
States Gypsum facility manufactures gypsum wallboard. It opened in 2000.
Rainier had been without a major employer for several years when this
plant was built, and USG received a lot of incentives to build here.
Since this is a USG plant, it can officially be called a SHEETROCK®
plant. SHEETROCK®
is a registered trademark of USG. The material is properly called gypsum
wallboard.
21. Veterans
Memorial
Intersection
of West Sixth Street and B Street West
This concrete
obelisk was erected in 2000. According to the City of Rainier's website,
it is a Veterans Memorial, however, there is no plaque or sign or list
of names or even a flag: nothing that indicates to a visitor that it
actually is a veterans memorial. I am all in
favor of a veterans memorial, but I think it should have something that
actually says that it's a veterans memorial. Otherwise, it could be a
monument to the concrete industry, for all anyone knows.
(Before I knew
this was supposed to be a veterans memorial, I referred to it as a
Monument to Stupidity, because I thought putting up a concrete obelisk
for no apparent reason was, well, stupid. Now that I know what it is
supposed to be, calling it that seems inappropriate. But, I wonder if it
was actually meant to be a veterans memorial when it was put up, or if
it was declared a veterans memorial after it was built, because people
thought a random pile of concrete was stupid.)
22. Rainier Riverfront Park
Rainier Riverfront Park was built in the early 1980s
on dredge spoils from the Columbia River after the eruption of Mt. St.
Helens. The park was dedicated "in honor of Mayor Betty Vilhauer for her
dedication and untiring effort for the community of Rainier" on June 26,
1982.
Riverfront Park was extensively rebuilt in the early
2000s, with the replacement of all playground equipment, new basketball
and tennis courts, a skateboard park and more completed by December
2002, and the above Little League field completed in 2006.
While the City
of Rainier rebuilt Riverfront Park, this rock was installed with a
plaque in memory of the events of September 11, 2001. I think the rock
is made of debris from the World Trade Center. Not to diminish
what happened on September 11, but we don't have monuments to Pearl
Harbor in towns all over
the country; we have one memorial at
Pearl Harbor, where it happened. In the case of 9-11, there should be a
memorial of some kind at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon and
the field in Pennsylvania, but why do we need one in Rainier, Oregon?
Maybe the fact that it was donated by a nationwide funeral home
operator, and has their logo on it no less, has something to do with it.
This Blue Star
Memorial in honor of those who have served or are serving in the Armed
Forces was dedicated on May 29, 2006. It was sponsored by the
Rainier Garden Club & Pioneer District, with additional support by
the Oregon
State Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc., the
City of Rainier,
the Oregon Roadside Council,
REDCO
& the VFW Columbia
River Post & Aux. 1909.
23. Rainier Senior
Center
48 West
Seventh Street
For years, the
Rainier Senior Center operated out of the Masonic Lodge. In 2004, the
Senior Center finally got a home of its own, this brand new building on
the Columbia River, adjacent to new senior housing and near Riverfront
Park.
24. Phone Booth
In front of 215 B Street West
This phone
booth is in the parking lot of J&R Sales Grocery Liquidators. What is so
special about a phone booth, you may ask. Well, you may have noticed
that they are starting to disappear. But Rainier still has several. So
why do I have a picture of this one? Look closely. It still has a
sliding bi-fold door. It is the only phone booth in Rainier that has a
door, and since I noticed that, I've been looking around for another and
have yet to find one. So this phone booth, while not unique, is still
rare.
Now, anyone
who's ever been to Rainier will know that no respectable webpage about
Rainier can fail to mention THE BRIDGE. So, without further ado...
25. A Street West
Bridge
In 2004, A
Street West was extended across Fox Creek and past Riverfront Park. This
is the bridge that was built to cross Fox Creek. At least it has a
little style. Fox Creek is
named after Charles E. Fox, Rainier's founder. It is Rainier's main
water supply.
What, that's
not the bridge you were expecting? Well, then how about this one...
26.
Fox Creek Footbridge
Fox Creek was
once emptied directly from a metal culvert into the Columbia River. This
stretch of culvert was removed in 2001. In 2002, a footbridge was
installed over Fox Creek to allow pedestrian access to Riverfront Park
from downtown. The bridge was innovative, in that its deck is made out
of a synthetic material intended to take the place of lumber. In 2004
the bridge was removed to make way for the extension of A Street West.
Now it sits on the beach at Riverfront Park, awaiting its fate, whatever
that may be. There is talk of it being put back across the creek near
the shore for a riverfront trail.
Oh, you want an
old bridge? Well, here you go then...
27. Railroad Bridge
46.0
Railroad
bridges are generally named by their location. This bridge over Fox
Creek is located at railroad milepost 46.0. This wooden bridge probably
dates from the railroad's original construction in 1897-98. The first
train came through Rainier from Astoria to Portland on the morning of
May 16, 1898. The railroad was originally called the Astoria & Columbia
River Railroad. On February 24, 1911 the Spokane, Portland & Seattle
took over. The SP&S became part of the Burlington Northern on May 1,
1970. Today, the line to Astoria is owned by the
Portland & Western
Railroad.
You were
looking for something bigger? I think I know what you're looking for...
28. Nice Creek
Viaduct
This concrete
viaduct that carries C Street over Nice Creek is simply called the C
Street Bridge by most people. However, it is officially called the Nice
Creek Viaduct; and unlike the Moeck House, there's no excuse to not call
the viaduct by its correct name, as the name is cast right into the
concrete at each end. Granted, its hard to read when you're driving by
in your car.
The Nice Creek
Viaduct was built in 1911 for
Columbia County by the LeDoux Ehrman
Company. That information is also cast into the concrete at each end.
Though it was probably thought to be plenty wide enough in 1911, it is
very narrow by today's standards and is only considered to have one
lane, though you can drive either way on it. Fortunately, C Street isn't
very busy. The chain link is a recent addition, for the safety of people
daring enough to walk across the viaduct. Because it is so narrow, it is
unnerving to have cars pass you while walking on it. It's hard to
believe that at one time this was the highway.
All right, all
right. I do know what you're waiting for, so here we go...
29. Lewis & Clark
Bridge
Before the
bridge, the only way to get between Longview and
Rainier was by boat. A small ferry carried automobiles and passengers
between the two cities; however, this was slow, and as
Longview grew, so did the demand for a bridge.
Photograph of the
ferry between Longview and Rainier, courtesy of Michael Clark's website.
Originally
called simply the Longview Bridge, this impressive structure was
designed by Joseph B. Strauss. Strauss is noted for designing over
100 bridges, including many of Chicago's lift bridges over the Chicago
River, as well as the operating mechanism for Portland's Burnside
Bridge. He is also known for another bridge you may have heard of: San
Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. But before he built the Golden Gate,
Strauss built this one. The first pilings were driven April 15, 1929,
and the bridge was dedicated and opened March 29, 1930. The bridge is
8,289 feet long and has 210 feet of clearance over the river. Its center
span is 1200 feet long, and its highest point is 340 feet above the
river, making it the longest and tallest cantilever span in North
America at the time. Total cost was $5.8 million. Plaques at each end of
the bridge read as follows:
COLUMBIA RIVER
LONGVIEW BRIDGE
COMPLETED 1930
BUILT BY
WILLIAM D. COMER
AND
WESLEY VANDERCOOK
TOTAL LENGTH OF SPAN
- INCLUDING APPROACHES
- 1 1/2 MILES
LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN
1200 FEET
MAXIMUM VERTICAL CLEARANCE
196 FEET
HEIGHT OF TOWERS ABOVE WATER
330 FEET
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY
SUBCONTRACTORS
WALLACE BRIDGE & STRUCTURAL STEEL CO.
STEEL FABRICATOR
BETHLEHEM STEEL CO.
STEEL FABRICATOR
J. H. POMEROY & CO.
STEEL ERECTOR
PACIFIC BRIDGE CO.
FOUNDATIONS
LINDSTROM & FEIGENSEN
APPROACHES
ENGINEERS
STRAUSS ENGINEERING CORPORATION
Photograph of the bridge shortly before completion and a copy of the
bridge toll schedule, courtesy of the Cowlitz County GenWeb Project.
Within a year
of its opening, the bridge had its first suicide jumper. And it was
someone from Portland! That's right, in 1931 someone drove all the way
from Portland to Rainier to kill himself.
The bridge was
originally a private venture, and had wood approaches. The state of
Washington bought the bridge in 1947 and replaced the original
approaches with concrete and steel. The bridge had a toll until 1965. In
1980 it was rededicated and renamed the
Lewis & Clark Bridge. It was
placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1982.
Age and
increasing traffic levels required that the bridge be redecked from
January 2003 to August 2004 at a cost of $29.8 million.
When adjusted
for inflation, the bridge's original construction cost equals about $60
million in 2004 dollars. So, just redecking the bridge cost half of what
the entire bridge cost. And it took longer.
Rainier Links
City of Rainier
Rainier 97048
The Story of Rainier 1805-1925 by Anna Zerzyke
Michael Clark's Written History, Historical Images & Memorabilia of
Rainier, Oregon
Columbia
County Historian
Clatskanie Chief
Also See:
History of Rainier by Mrs. Grace Reid
Trojan in Twilight
PLACES - Astoria, Oregon
PLACES -
Kelso-Longview, Washington
PLACES - Oregon City, Oregon
PLACES
- Lebanon, Oregon
PLACES - Salem, Oregon
PLACES - Antique Powerland, Brooks, Oregon
PLACES - Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon
PLACES - San Francisco, California
Lewis & Clark Explorer
2007 Rainier Days
2006 Rainier Days
2002 Rainier Days
1999 Eagles Car Show
1996 Rainier Days
Motorcar Club Toots
Through Rainier
A New Train is
Rollin' Through Town
Railroad Ties that
Bind
Model Train Club
Keeps Local Rail Fans On Track
2007 LK&R Train Show
& Swap Meet
2006 LK&R Train Show
& Swap Meet
All website content, including graphics and
pictures are © Robert D. West unless otherwise noted. Content is not to
be used out of the context of this webpage without expressed
permission. Any opinions expressed herein are mine and are not
necessarily shared by the Milwaukee School of Engineering, or anyone
else.
Questions? Comments? Critiques? Corrections?
Concerns? Email me at westr@msoe.edu.
