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10
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
September 2013
Gresham Radiator
Your Local Radiator Shop
SINCE 1956
731 NE Division Street • Gresham, OR 97030
503.665.7949
Contributed by Troutdale
Historical SOciety
The Historic Columbia River Highway – on
Troutdale’s front door step – is getting a
closer look from old friends.
Two years ago, 10 people took up the
task of building a centennial exhibit to mark
the 1916 opening of the historic road running
from Troutdale through the Columbia River
Gorge to The Dalles.
The plan: A rst-class historic display in
the Troutdale Historical Society barn
museum, located at Troutdale’s entrance to
the highway, open by late spring 2015.
An unexpected result of two years’
planning was discovering that many
committee members had a personal stake in
the road.
Chairman Len Otto grew up in a house
next to the Sandy River bridge: “I never
realized that this thing with which I grew up,
this highway of tar and stone and waterfalls,
was such a big deal that people from all over
the world come to see what I considered
ordinary. Just recently I learned that the west
end of the bridge in Troutdale is marked as
Milepoint Zero on some of the newer
maps...I grew up at Milepoint Zero. That’s
awesome.”
Otto helped organized a birthday party for
the Troutdale bridge last spring, part of an
effort to raise more than $100,000 to build
the new exhibit - “King of Roads, Byway of
the People.”
Money was an issue then, too.
Jean Hybskmann, historical society board
member, said her grandfather flourished
during the construction of the highway,
which was built on its west end with mostly
horse power.
“My grandfather, Alfred O Stafford, worked
on the road. He and my grandmother had a
farm (still in the family) on Hayden Road
(now 302nd off of Division Street). He had a
team of horses that were his pride and joy.
Firstbendofhighway is learningcurve
Local historians have personal connections to engineering landmark
This photo shows the “China Bridge,” spanning the Historic Columbia River Highway. The bridge was just west of the Latourell Bridge,
and was designed as a pedestrian overpass. The concrete abutments are present still and easily visible to visitors.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: CLARENCE MERSHON COLLECTION
