{"id":27,"date":"2013-12-08T10:42:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T10:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/portlandhistory.net\/mounthoodhistory\/?p=27"},"modified":"2013-12-08T10:42:44","modified_gmt":"2013-12-08T10:42:44","slug":"mist-falls-lodge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/portlandhistory.net\/mounthoodhistory\/2013\/12\/08\/mist-falls-lodge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mist Falls Lodge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multnomah Lodge was built along the Columbia River Highway near Mist Falls in 1916. It was one of several such establishments that sprang up along the newly-built highway that followed the southern shore of the Columbia River<\/p>\n


\nMultnomah Lodge in 1917<\/p>\n

When the lodge was put up for sale by the owners in 1919 a June 22 advertisement in the Oregonian<\/em> listed the features of the place, including six guest rooms, three family rooms, and a dining room.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sometime around 1920 the name was changed to Mist Falls Lodge. On July 31, 1921 the Oregonian ran an article extolling the virtues of a drive along the Columbia River Highway. Mist Falls Lodge was called “an attractive and cosy inn facing the highway, with its back to beautiful Mist Falls.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nMist Falls Lodge as shown in the newspaper<\/p>\n

In November of that year a severe snow and ice storm hit the Columbia River Gorge. The roof of the lodge collapsed under the weight. The pictures below appeared in the November 27 Oregonian.<\/p>\n


\nThe caption read: “Above–View of highway with wrecked Mist Falls Lodge at upper left. Below–One of scores of buried touring cars found along road.”<\/p>\n

The roof was replaced and business carried on. A July 26, 1924 advertisement in the Oregonian touted the “delicious chicken dinners” as well as trails, swings, hammocks, music, refreshments, and fishing.<\/p>\n

\"07-26-1924\"<\/p>\n

The lodge was up for sale again in 1925, with a May 25 advertisement amusingly stating “Good proposition for some hustling woman.”<\/p>\n

\"05-25-1925\"<\/p>\n


\nUndated photo of Mist Falls Lodge (Ash Creek Images<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n

The lodge burned down in 1929 and was never rebuilt. In 1971 the site of the lodge was part of a five acre tract that was donated to the State Highway Commission by the landowners, Reuben and Rose Lenske. In a May 4, 1971 Oregon Journal<\/em> article Reuben, who was strongly opposed to the Vietnam War, was quoted as saying “Instead of selling it and then devoting a considerable portion of the sales price to the federal government, in the wrongful destruction of the ecology and the environment as well as the people of a distant land,” he wanted instead to donate the land for “peaceful park purposes.” <\/p>\n

The former site of the lodge is right along the Historic Columbia River Highway, although vegetation has grown up tremendously.<\/p>\n


\nMist Falls Lodge site in 2013<\/p>\n


\nThe plaque commemorating the 1971 land donation<\/p>\n


\nA stone by the side of the road notes the year of construction<\/p>\n


\nAll that’s left of the lodge is the towering chimney<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Former location of Mist Falls Lodge:<\/p>\n