Oregon Trip - Post 9 - City Hall & Mayor History

Here is Troutdale's City Hall:


And this sign about Early Women Mayors:


It says,
"Early Women Mayors
In 1913, one year after Orgeon women won the right to vote, Clara Larsson was elected the mayor of Troutdale, defeating her male opponent, S.A. Edmundson, by five votes. A quarter Indian, daughter of the pioneer family Latourell family, she was one of the first women mayors in the state. In 1914, Troutdale voters approved Prohibition and closed all of the town’s saloons, including one belonging to the Mayor’s husband, John.The city elected a second woman mayor, Laura Harlow in 1924. She was also a deputy sheriff and was the wife of Lou Harlow, whose father was Capt. John Harlow, Troutdale’s founder."

I think it's probably safe to say that Clara Larsson and her husband, John, had a bit of a public disagreement going on, huh?
That must have been interesting (and possibly entertaining); certainly a story or two there, anyway.

Oregon Trip - Post 8 - Behind the Museum

A mossy-rock memorial:

that says,
"Blue Star Memorial By-Way
At Tribute to the Armed Forces of America Mutnomah District 14 O.S.F.G.C."


A "No Dogs" sign:

This notice was a little further along than the dog walk area where a sign asked for courteousness and supplied little plastic poop bags.
I can appreciate a convenient doggie bag ;).

And I couldn't resist snapping this picture of the "Honey Bucket:"



A brick walkway led toward the Sandy River:


And this trestle peeked out through the greenery:


This is the Sandy River, whose currents must be much more dangerous than they look:

because drownings are unfortunately common.

Clear, cold, inviting:

and dangerous.

Unless you're a goose:


Beautiful.

Oregon Trip - Post 7 - Troutdale History

This sign was located in the park behind the yellow rail car:

It says,

"Oregon History
Troutdale

This pioneer community, gateway to the Columbia Gorge, was settled in the 1850s. Cattle herds of early pioneers were driven to the nearby Sandy River from the Dalles while the emigrants rafted their wagons down the Columbia.
First known as Sandy, the present name came from fish ponds built by the town's founder, Capt. John Harlow. By the turn of the century, railroad and river commerce made Troutdale a noisy boom town boasting 'A tavern on each corner and one in the middle.'
Here in 1894 part of Coxey's Army, 500 unemployed demonstrators, commandeered a train in and attempt to reach Washington, D.C."

Oregon Trip - Post 6 - BIG

One thing that has always impressed me about Oregon is the SIZE of things; Texas should be jealous.
When we lived out there a decade-plus ago, the blackberries were as big as ping-pong balls.
And, no, I am not kidding. Not exaggerating, either.

I think this is actually a raspberry bloom, but it makes the size of it even more impressive:



This leaf, which was beside the yellow train car, was bigger than my head (no, I did not get my head in the picture as a size-reference):

And this:

was absolutely the most impressive slug I ever saw. It was on a foot bridge, having crawled up through the cracks (I could tell by its trail of slime, which was pretty impressive, too, though it didn't show up in the picture).

It was between 4-5 inches long. It was HUGE. I could probably add a couple of inches to my guesstimate size and not have anyone who knows Oregon slugs argue with me.
Really, really HUGE.

Oregon Trip - Post 5- Depot Rail Museum

In yesterday's post at The 123, I talked about why I found this little Oregon town so fascinating. More specifically -and something else in common with Grafton's red caboose (and other rail history)- this Depot Rail Museum caught my interest:

This little Depot-turned-museum sits at the far end of town, just about on the Sandy River.
"End of the Line Museum Store:"






Unfortunately, I was there too early in the morning to take the inside tour, but I couldn't help looking through the windows:




although the view from the front porch wasn't much:




This yellow car sits in the front yard:







I wanted to take pictures of this car like I did for our red caboose post, so I just walked around snapping away:











It's obvious that this car is much newer than our red caboose.



How much newer?



I googled this train car number:


And learned that this car was built in Ohio in 1975.



It was in service as recently as 1993, because the picture of it on the web page was taken in Washington State.






There was no information online or on-site that indicated when or why it was retired.












I tried to look in the window, but it was pretty blurry:


There was a boiler and a few cots, like a bunkhouse. Does that make it a caboose?



I have no idea.

What impressed me the most -and this wasn't the first time- was the age difference in our history.
Grafton, West Virginia's boom began in the 1850s when the railroad first came over the Allegheny Mountains. Troutdale, Oregon's boom was around 1900. It took time for our nation to move West.

I tried to find out when our red caboose was built, but I can't find a thing. I do know, however, that it has been sitting on Main Street for 30 years or so. That means it was retired around the same time that this yellow caboose was just a baby.

Oregon Trip - Post 4 - Bronze in the Park

Okay, here's the post about the other bronze sculptures in the park.


There were beautiful, thriving flowering plants hanging from every light post in town. Every morning, a pick-up truck with a water tank in the back would slowly cruise through town and stop at every flower. Alongside the water tank, there stood a man who hosed down every plant until the water dripped out the bottom.

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This sign says, "A Century Just Blew By:"


There were quite a few signs with historical information; I'll get to some of those later, but this Trout Statue sign will be the first:

These intertwined bronze trout are the focal point of the park:



Can you read this?

It says,
"Troutdale's
'Rainbow Splendor'
by
Rip Caswell
Captain John Harlow named his farm, and later Troutdale, for the trout he raised in a dale.
'In the rook bordered fish pond where the fountain was playing...' said Ben Hur Lampman, one of Oregon's most eloquent fisherman in 'Coming of the Pond Fishes.'
Generously donated to the City of Troutdale by: Richard L. Weyhrich, Gary A. Weyhrich, Mark D. Weyhrich, Karen A. Weyhrich, Tube Specialties Company, Inc."



These cute little kids I like better than the fish, though:

"Hitchin' a Ride" by Carolyn Williams



"Amanda Jane" by Carolyn Williams

Oregon Trip - Post 3 - Beer Direction

In a home decor store, I found this sign:

I did not buy it, however, because I figured if I needed an arrow to get me there, then I already had too much.

Oregon Trip - Post 2

Okay, so I lied; I am not posting the bronze statue pictures right now.

I am posting this Cigar shop photo:


Cigar store, complete with:

A cigar store Indian!

I think they must bring him in at night, because he wasn't there the first time I walked past early in the morning. I bet he weighs quite a bit, but I suppose they figure he's not too heavy for a couple of motivated thieves to throw him in the back of their pick-up truck in the middle of the night.

Oregon Trip - Post 1

I have no idea how many Oregon posts there will be, but I'll start here.

I flew into Portland and stayed in Troutdale, about 10 miles east. I stayed in a box motel: brand-name, clean, basic, suburban.
Fine, but definitely nothing exciting.

The main street tourist business district, however, was pretty cool. It's a perfect example of what Grafton is heading towards, so I found it particularly interesting.

The first thing I took an interest in was this bronze casting gallery:


I would have stopped in for myself, but because my friend, Debbie, is starting to cast some of her creations in bronze, I was excited to see that they had tours of the foundry (is that the proper name for art casting?). Unfortunately, the tours were closed for remodeling, so I had to settle for the display Gallery.
The Gallery was hard to miss with this life-sized moose sitting on the sidewalk out front:





Inside there were more life-sized creatures:











Come to find out, Debbie has already been there. She even got the tour.

I have more pictures of bronze sculptures in the city park. I'll post those next....