Good Oregon ghost towns for newspaper photos?

[PirateyJoe]

Hi there, I'm brand new here on the forums, but I have a request.

I'm writing a story for Halloween about ghost towns in and around the Columbia River Gorge in both Oregon and Washington.

The story will be running in The Dalles Chronicle in the next couple of weeks, and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for places with interesting stories and pictures in the area.

I've been to Shaniko and I thought it was incredible, but I'd love to hear some more ideas if you've got them.

Thanks,

Sam

[Rupe]

I haven't been there for about 30 years but there were some out towards Dufur. I don't remember their names anymore. I think one started with a B and the other may have been Friendly. Just to long ago to be sure. Good luck on your article. I lived in The Dalles back in the mid. 70's. Spent alot of time running the back roads south out of The Dalles. Lots of old school houses back then. There was one on Jap Hollow Rd. off Eightmile rd. with an old cemetery across the road. I don't remember anything about them either, Sorry. Rupe

[PirateyJoe]

Thanks, Rupe!

I appreciate it. I think the "B" one is Boyd? I'm not sure, but I'm going to check that one out tomorrow.

I appreciate the help, and I'll post a link to the story when it comes out.

Sam

[Rupe]

Yep that was it Boyd!

[Tsarevna]

I recently did a report on Bridal Veil Falls and Palmer. Since many people know about the waterfall, it would surprise and interest them to know about the 2 ghost towns that used to be there.

http://ghosttowns.com/states/or/bridalveil.html

Also, Fort Cascades, and the town of Cascades (that supported the fort,) were wiped out in the 1894 flood, which was the greatest ever recorded in Oregon history.

A different flood of 1861 wiped out Champoeg and Scottsburg. This 1861 flood seemed to have claimed many towns as victims. Linn City went down in that flood, and I believe, so did Monticello, WA, which was a very important town to Washington's history.

Look up the "Monticello Convention." (For some reason, ther's no wiki article about it yet.)

http://www.ci.longview.wa.us/community/longview_history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linn_City,_Oregon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champoeg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsburg,_Oregon

This website below is especially helpful. It is sometimes tricky to navigate, but it has a lot of info about ghosttowns and the floods.

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/cascade_locks.html

Let us know how the article goes! Post it here if you will. :)

[Rupe]

Scottsburg was moved after the flood in 1861 when the Umpquia river flooded the old town of Scottsburg. It is just a small town on HWY 38 now. I go through it alot but have yet to stop. Now that I have found this site, I'm going to have to stop.

[danny_stoddard]

pic by me.

[Rupe]

Nice photo! I have been there I don't know how many times, but everytime I drive by I always stop in and wander around. rupe

[Tsarevna]

So is the hotel still closed at Shaniko?

I also forgot to mention, Bridal Veil is supposed to have a cemetary. Would make a creepy photo, "Halloweenish," to take a time-lapse exposure (at night,) of a gravestone that said "died of diptheria" as they are supposed to say there.

[Rupe]

So is the hotel still closed at Shaniko?

I also forgot to mention, Bridal Veil is supposed to have a cemetary. Would make a creepy photo, "Halloweenish," to take a time-lapse exposure (at night,) of a gravestone that said "died of diptheria" as they are supposed to say there.

I think the hotel was open when I went through it about a year ago. But we didn't stop very long, just to go into one of the second hand shops real quick. But I don't think is was closed, I hope not, I've wanted to spend the night there. I bet that place creaks and squeeks at night. Maybe see a ghost or two. :D rupe

ps That would make a cool picture of the graveyard, pretty eerie!:eek:

[danny_stoddard]

As part of the very progressive perservation efforts on the part of Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., and his companies, Shaniko has undergone quite an overhall.... so much so that I'm annoyed at the reprinting of old photos in "new" ghost town books that just regurgitate the old info and old photos... there is quite a marked difference in the very popularly photographed schoolhouse and other buildings in the town. The Hotel and saloon were experiencing the same overhall and it was looking VERY good! you could even go and stay in the Hotel! Shockingly, however, the properties (hotel, etc.) are now up for sale and as far as I know there is no reason stated for this. You can go to www.shaniko.com (http://www.shaniko.com) to see pictures and this website, once advertising the work being done is now simply an advertisement for the sale of the hotel and cafe. on the pamplin website, www.pamplin.org (http://www.pamplin.org), there is no mention of this sale and Shaniko is still listed as one of their preservation efforts.

Not sure what all is up with it, but a nice little place!

I have more pictures on the Shaniko page of www.ghosttowns.com (http://www.ghosttowns.com)

[Rupe]

So they fixed it up to sell it and make some cash on it? So a private party or company can buy it and turn it into another tourist town with the same old tourist trinkets that are at all the other places that have been changed to make a profit?
Remember when Sisters was just a little drive threw town everything was dirt roads except the highway. That was the Sisters that I liked.

[AlyStar]

This is probably too late for your article but ghosttowns.com has a great map, my favs are:

Richmond (near Spray)
Golden (near Wolf Creek)
Whitney (near Sumpter)
Fox (near Long Creek)
Mitchell (By Spray on way to John Day)
Canyon City (near John Day)

[ghost_town_huntress]

Unfortunately, I lost all my good photos of the one good ghost town I've been to in Oregon. I went to Lime a few years back and got some amazing photos, but then a tornado destroyed my house and many contents within it, including my computer and C drive with all my photos on it. Pity, I had so many beautiful ghost town photos and photos of my then baby daughter that are now lost forever.

Rachel in Utah ghost_town_huntress@yahoo.com

[Rupe]

I'm so sorry for your loss. You just can bring those pictures back. Man that hurts. We'll Pray for you and your losses.
We were just talking about some kind of a back up CD's for all our pictures and info that we have collected. It's like we just don't seem to get around to putting it on disks and protecting the disks in a good water proof metal box or safe. rupe

[campp]

I recommend everyyone back up their photos with a DVD copy. I do mine once a quarter, and into the safety deposit box it goes. Peace of mind.

I have many many many thousands of photos I do not want to lose to a theft or fire.

[Rupe]

I recommend everyyone back up their photos with a DVD copy. I do mine once a quarter, and into the safety deposit box it goes. Peace of mind.

I have many many many thousands of photos I do not want to lose to a theft or fire.


You are absolutely right! I just need to get off my butt and do it.

rupe

[Dave A]

After lurking on this site for quite a while, this thread caused me to register and hopefully even contribute something.

I grew up in Washington County Oregon (Cherry Grove) and have driven by the Champoeg site many times, but never stopped to read the historical marker, so the Wikkipedia article was interesting.

One place name, that used to have a small general store and a few houses to go with the highway designation sign was Wapato, OR. This was located about three miles South of Gaston on the road to Yamhill. There is nothing there now and the designation as a "place?" has been taken down. Don't know if this qualifies as a ghost town, or not?

[Tsarevna]

Wapato has a very interesting history.

There used to be a lake there. Wapato Lake. It was very important to the Tualatin Indians. Great epidemics of smallpox and other diseases almost wiped out the Tualatin Indians, and they ceded pretty much all the land of the Tualatin Valley that they resided on for the ability to start a reservation at Wapato Lake.

The agreement was made locally, but some sort of problem happened, perhaps some sort of Federal override. The Wapato Lake reservaton never came to be, and the Tualatin Indian survivors were moved to the Grand Ronde reservation along with tribes from southern Oregon they didn't have much in common with.

The Tualatins essentially were drowned out and in the minority so much that they lost their language and heritage. I don't think they are recognized as a tribe anymore.

I'm not sure how much of a town there was in the 1860's, but maps of the region show it being a prominent rail stop. Wapato Lake was eventually drained for farming, I think onion farming. There is a vinyard out there now with an old pioneer home as it's wine tasting headquarters. Not much else.

[Rupe]

Very interesting history, thanks for sharing.

I for one support the Grand Ronde Tribes. I can't tell you how much money I have donated to the Spirit Mountain Casino. :D

But when you read what all the different casino's do with the money they make, it is a great thing for the Indian tribes that are involved in the gaming industries. I for one would much rather gamble at a trible casino then in Nevada. I know that my money is going to a good cause.
Rupe

[Dave A]

I know Wapato Lake well, although I think locally it is called Gaston Lake now and only when it floods in the winter. An enterprizing local man dug drainage ditches to the Tualatin river, which runs very near the Eastern edge of the lake and made it suitable for farming.

One branch of my relatives owns twenty acres of lake bed, which was highly prized for growing onions as mentioned. However, the local onions have fallen out of favor for some reason and the land is much less valuable than it once was.

Washington county is a marvelous place to visit in the summer, but the rainy season gets to be a bit much.

[Tsarevna]

Well, did you know that old Grand Ronde is a ghost town Rupe?

There's 2 Grand Rondes. The one on the highway is the new one, and I think that one store moved to be closer to the highway. The store by the school zone. You take the road north up to the old Grand Ronde, the orignal one. There used to be train tracks there, and I hope that the train station still exists. It was restored a while ago. I don't think they ever even paved the roads of old Grand Ronde.

The town is in the book Lumber Ghosts, and there are some photos of it from 1991. The old train station and hotel are featured in it. The tracks used to go all the way to Hebo (?) back in the day, and went east to Sheridan. Torn up now, I think.

There's also a ghost fort in the area. It is now an archeological site, and so it's exact location isn't printed in books anymore. But, the hill the fort was located on is still labled with an obvious name, so you could drive up the also obviously named road to go see it.

The fort was built to watch over the restless Indians and guard the road between the coast and Willamette Valley. I think they had a block house that settlers could run to and take shelter in in case of an uprising.

There was a Fort Hoskins at Hoskins too. Apparantly only the cemetery remains there.


Note: The old Grand Ronde is sometimes refered to as Grand Ronde Agency. That's the place where the train station was, as the original tracks were up there. On the maps.google.com image, you see modern tracks down by the new Grand Ronde and the highway, those are more recent.

The ghost fort: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Yamhill

[Rupe]

Tsarevna, no I didn't know there was 2 GR's I will have to stop in and check out the old one and the fort area too. That is very interesting, thanks for the info. rupe

PS another reasont to go throw money away at the Casino too. :D