OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES HISTORIC RESOURCE SURVEY FORM Note: For properties 35 years old and newer, starred (*) sections are the only required fields. *County: Clackamas *Street Address: *City Situs Address 16500 S. Old River Road Lake Oswego USGS Quad Name: GPS Reading, UTM Format (Universal Transverse Mercator): Lake Oswego Longitude: 122°39'21.18"W Latitude: 45°24'28.20"N Township: Range: Section: Block/Lot: Tax Lot #: 2S 1E 11CB N/A 790 Historic Name: Grouping or Cluster Name: The Crown Willamette Log Loading Station *Date of Construction: Other Name: ca. 1915 Log Hoist Historic Use or Function: *Current Use: Associated Archaeological Site: Industrial Abandoned Unknown Architectural Classification(s): Plan Type/Shape: Number of stories: Structure Rectangular N/A Foundation Material: Structural Framing: Moved? Concrete Concrete No Roof Type/Material: Window Type/Material: N/A N/A Exterior Surface Materials Primary: Secondary: Decorative: Concrete N/A Exterior Alterations or Additions, Approximate Date: One Story addition w/band of windows across façade added to top of structure when converted to residential use (date unknown, but possibly around 1978) Number and Type of Associated Resources: None Integrity: Condition: Local Eligibility National Register Listed? Good Fair On LDL Yes No Unknown Preliminary National Register Findings:air Potentially Eligible: Individually or As a contributing resource in a District Not Eligible: Intact but lacks distinction or Not 50 years old or Altered - Choose one: Reversible/ potentially eligible individually or in a District Reversible/ ineligible, lacks distinction Irretrievable lack of integrity *Researcher/ Organization: Date Recorded: L. Radwanski/E. Heideman/A. Boyd/ SWCA-1220 SW Morrison St, Portland, OR 97205 August 2014 City of Lake Oswego, 380 “A” Avenue, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 Additional research and review by Erin O’Rourke-Meadors SHPO #: Survey Form Page 1 of 11 Revised 12/02 OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES HISTORIC RESOURCE SURVEY FORM *County: Clackamas Street Address: City: Situs Address 16500 S. Old River Road Lake Oswego Description of Physical and or Landscape Features The Crown Willamette Log Loading Station is located on the south bank of the Willamette River off Old River Road. The station sits approximately 250 feet (79 meters) to the northeast of the Crown Willamette Paper Company House (known for many years as The Tug Master’s House). The Crown Willamette Log Loading Station is now located on a 0.36-acre parcel in a neighborhood with homes on large irregular lots that were developed primarily after World War II. The loading station is directly surrounded by foliage and is partially located in the Willamette River. Historically an electric winch with a crane sat on top of the foundation. The Crown Willamette Log Loading Station is essentially a massive concrete foundation that supported an electric lift to hoist logs. The concrete foundation that remains measures approximately 50 feet (15 meters) across at the top and is roughly square with some projections. The foundation is slightly wider at the base and angles in slightly at the top. There is a narrow projection on the west side, projecting south. A 1947 photo, obtained courtesy of the Lake Oswego Public Library, shows the building without its windowed story. Currently the foundation rises to its historical point (as noted by the color of the concrete) and then a single-story addition is evident. This alteration happened at some time after 1947. On the north (river-facing) façade is a bank of concrete framed window openings capped with a large wood beam. One window from this bank wraps around the north and east façades. There are two window openings on the south portion of the west façade (one roughly centered and one on the south side of the façade). On the east façade there is a single window opening on the south side of the façade. The roof appears to be caving in in some or most areas. *Researcher/ Organization: Date Recorded: L. Radwanski/E. Heideman/A. Boyd/ SWCA-1220 SW Morrison St, Portland, OR 97205 August 2014 City of Lake Oswego, 380 “A” Avenue, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 Additional research and review by Erin O’Rourke-Meadors SHPO #: Survey Form Page 2 of 11 Revised 12/02 OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES HISTORIC RESOURCE SURVEY FORM *County: Clackamas Street Address: 16500 S. Old River Road City: Situs Address Lake Oswego Statement of Significance The Crown Willamette Log Loading Station, sometimes referred to as the Oswego Log Loading Station and located at 16500 Old River Road on the east bank of the lower Willamette River in Lake Oswego, just below George Rogers Park, is historically significant as an important surviving link to Lake Oswego’s industrial past and as Lake Oswego’s direct link to the Crown Willamette Paper Company on the Willamette River. It was built to hoist logs out of the Willamette to avoid treacherous passage through the Willamette Falls Locks. The logs were hoisted onto rail cars at Oswego and transported above the falls. The Oregonian published an article on January 16, 1910, entitled New Line to Begin; Oswego is to be connected to Oregon City. The intention of the rail line was to carry logs from Oswego to the paper mills in Oregon City. At least three mills were operating at this time in Oregon City—“The Willamette Pulp & Paper Company, the Crown-Columbia Pulp & Paper Company, and the Hawley Pulp & Paper Company” (The Oregonian 1910). This was an effort to “relieve the present situation” of transporting the logs from the lower to upper river. Prior to this time the paper companies brought their logs up through the river during the summer months (the only period when the Willamette River could carry the cargo). The logs were taken “through the canal and locks and boomed along the banks of the upper river” (The Oregonian 1910). The new railway was to be electric. The log loading station was constructed by the Crown Willamette Paper Company in ca. 1915 and operated from ca. 1915 until 1933, when the Southern Pacific Railroad abandoned the operation (Colver 2012). The Crown Willamette Paper Company was created in 1914 with the merger of the Crown Columbia Pulp and Paper Company and the Willamette Pulp and Paper Company (Crown Zellerbach Corporation Records 2014). Located not far from the log hoist and perched on a hill overlooking the Willamette and the hoist is the Crown Willamette Paper Company House, located at 107 Burnham Road. The Crown Willamette Paper Company built the house in ca. 1915 (at approximately the same time that the hoist was being constructed) for Reuben Warren Confer and Pearl A. Confer (nee James) (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1910; U.S. Selective Service System 1942). Reuben Confer was the hoist’s manager for most, if not all, of the log hoist’s duration of use. An article in The Oregonian confirms that Confer was still superintendent of the log hoist and living in the house as of July 29, 1928 (The Oregonian 1928). The Public Service Commission’s 1921 Annual Report of Oregon described the log hoist Reuben Confer operated while living in the house: There are no existing booms on Oswego Lake at present; nor are there any in the Willamette River at or near the point where we expect to operate, with the exception of the boom of the Crown Willamette Paper Company, one-fourth of a mile south of our proposed rafting ground. This boom is operated by means of a derrick where logs are loaded upon cars and hauled thence to the Crown Willamette Paper Company’s mill at Oregon City. (Oregon Public Service Commission 1921:28) *Researcher/ Organization: Date Recorded: L. Radwanski/E. Heideman/A. Boyd/ SWCA-1220 SW Morrison St, Portland, OR 97205 August 2014 City of Lake Oswego, 380 “A” Avenue, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 Additional research and review by Erin O’Rourke-Meadors SHPO #: Survey Form Page 3 of 11 Revised 12/02 OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES HISTORIC RESOURCE SURVEY FORM *County: Clackamas Street Address: 16500 S. Old River Road City: Situs Address Lake Oswego In September 1918, the Crown Willamette Paper Company’s newsletter, Makin’ Paper, contained an article entitled Getting the Logs to the Mill, which was paraphrased by historian Marylou Colver: A powerful electric hoist mounted on heavy concrete foundations hoisted logs from the river. The hoist could accommodate hundreds of thousands of feet of hemlock and spruce logs. Two pairs of grab hooks, suspended from a heavy pulley block, were fastened to a log. At the signal to hoist, the derrick cable quickly raised the log to the elevation over the rail cars. About five logs were loaded onto each car and secured with a chain. The final or “top log” was swung on top of the chained logs, to draw the chains tighter and bind the load to the car. Typically about five railcars were loaded and hauled by an electric train to the log unloading station for the West Linn mill. The logs were unloaded in the upper river so they would not have to travel through the locks. The log train ran on a trestle over the log pond and, with the help of a derrick boom and donkey engine, the logs were rolled off the cars into the river. The logs were again rafted into booms and scaled, awaiting milling. (Colver 2011) After the historic period the property was altered into a living space. The tax map of the area shows a “house on pillar” at the location of log loading station. It is unclear what year this map was printed. Tax Assessor records show the building date for this parcel as 1978, suggesting this is when the foundation was converted to a living space.