Latourell: The Rich History of a Pioneering Columbia River Town
March 29, 2016 |
Troutdale Historical Society and McMenamins History presents “Latourell: The Rich History of a Pioneering Columbia River Town”
Edgefield History Pub A presentation by Chuck Rollins, president of the Crown Point Country Historical Society, and Steve Lehl, Columbia River Gorge historian
Edgefield Blackberry Hall | Tuesday, March 29, 2016
5 p.m. doors, 6:30 p.m event
Free
All ages welcome
About “Latourell: The Rich History of a Pioneering Columbia River Town”
These days, Latourell is a small, quiet village at the western end of the Columbia River Gorge, but in Oregon's early history it played a significant role, being for many years the only Columbia River community between the Lower Cascades and the mouth of the Sandy River. Joseph "Frenchy" Latourell established the townsite in the 1850s, following his settlement of the area near Crown Point and just below Latourell Falls. Early on, Latourell boasted all important transportation links with a steamboat landing, and then a railroad station upon the advent of the Northern Pacific rail service in the early 1880s. The railroad enabled the Latourell family to venture into
the logging business in 1887. Frenchy was an early boatman on the Columbia and worked many jobs, hauling freight and cordwood for the fast growing communities along the river and worked on the fish wheels that began to pop up all along the middle and upper river. Both Frenchy and his wife Grace were best known for their hospitality and their generosity when times were hard.
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Website:
www.troutdalehistory.org |
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| Location Information |
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Edgefield Blackberry Hall |
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Troutdale, OR |
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| Contact Information |
| Email:
troutdalehistory@gmail.com |
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