“America’s Great Highway” The Historic Columbia River Highway

Please join us as Robert W. Hadlow, Ph.D., discusses “America’s Great Highway”. Hadlow is a historian who has researched and written about the Historic Columbia River Highway for over twenty years. You’ll learn about the road’s construction, from 1913 to 1922, as the first scenic highway in the United States; its decline, in the 1950s and 1960s, when the nearby interstate highway opened; and its rebirth since the late 1990s. Known as the “King of Roads,” the highway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and a National Historic Landmark in 2000. You’ll also learn about current work including the rehabilitation of abandoned road segments in Hood River County – to become parts of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.

This lecture program is held at the Architectural Heritage Center - 701 SE Grand Avenue

Parking is on-street (free on Saturdays) or in the parking lot on the west side of Grand Avenue between SE Yamhill and Belmont Streets - just to the north of the Grand Marketplace. Do not use the lot where Dutch Bros. Coffee is located. Thank you to Bolliger and Sons Insurance for sharing their lot with us for our evening and Saturday education programs.

Image Source: AHC Library