On November 7 I had the opportunity to go on a tour of the former Blue Heron Paper Mill site in Oregon City. The mill, under various owners, has been here for over a hundred years and was the main employer in the city until it closed due to bankruptcy in 2011. Its main product was newsprint, (at one time they were owned by, and supplied, the Times-Mirror Company), and with the decline of newspapers the business suffered.
This site is very important to Oregon, and American, history. It is part of the original plot of Oregon City, the oldest (American) city in the west, founded by John McLaughlin in 1843. The original site of his residence was on these grounds. It still remains, but was moved to the top of the bluffs earlier this century when it was threatened with demolition by the mill owners. (The mill, over time, gradually expanded and the whole south part of Oregon City became private mill property and was closed to the public). This is the end of the Oregon Trail and was the capital of the Oregon Territory. It is located at the Willamette Falls, the second largest (by volume, after Niagara) waterfall in the U.S. This was a center for Native Americans for probably thousands of years, there are petroglyphs carved in the basalt cliffs by the river's edge. The early settlers took advantage of the fall's power and the first mills were built here in the late 1840s.With the dawn of electric power, a dam was built here and the world's first long distance transmission of electric power occurred here in 1889.
The site was sold to a developer and there is a project underway to revitalize the area. Through co-operation with several governments (Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro, the State of Oregon) there is hope this can become a vibrant area once again.
Although the tour I went on was for only two hours, I learned a lot and was stunned by what I saw and was excited about the potential for the area. I've lived in this area most of my life (grew up in neighboring Gladstone) and saw things I never knew were there. I tried to take as many pictures as I could to try to convey an impression...
The tour basically starts near here. This once was part of Main Street and soon will be again. We turned toward the river and entered the main part of the mill.
Here are some shots of the main mill interior. Most of the machinery has been removed. The holes in the floor show the basement. This spot lies on the flood plain and it is very dark, damp and musty here!
I like to take photos of old buildings. There are a lot of them here. Too many to see in such a short time. I had just enough time to point, shoot, and run to catch up with the rest of the group!
I don't have the best camera in the world and it was really dark here.
Going ouside, this area is called "the Beer Garden"...Well it would be nice but they'd have to do something about that rail. Look over it and it's a vertical drop down to the river! The mill on the other side is the West Linn Paper Company. They're still operating, they make a different product. Glossy paper, for catalogs and magazines.
You can see the Falls from here. The dingy looking building is a hydroelectric plant operated by Portland General Electric.It replaced the original plant on the other side of the falls.
This is an old dock with the Oregon City-West Linn Bridge in the background (I've always wondered why they didn't come up with a better name for it, but at least it's descriptive). This dock will become an observation platform.
I was fascinated with this structure across the river. The brick ovens and chimneys plus the rusted metal scaffolding is very picturesque. It was a chilly foggy morning so there was lots of steam.
Soon afterwards we went back inside this building and upstairs.
The beams and rafters are all old growth timber from long ago.
Here are offices as they were left from the last day of operations four years ago.
Next we go to the site of the old woolen mill, one of the first building built here. It was torn down early last century, but the stone foundations remain. The walls will be preserved, enclosing a large outdoors area.
An open air market or courtyard are some ideas for this open space.
At the edge of the woolen mills foundation is a pit with a stagnant pool. Originally from the arch flowed a stream. Plans are to unobstruct it and restore the flowing water.
Entering another building only now we're going downstairs.
We're actually underneath the basement of the mill. The basalt bedrock slopes so in order to make the building level they built it on stilts.
It is a very interesting place to visit. Catwalks, massive concrete stilts, old detrius who knows how old,pools of water...the runoff from this site is all captured before it runs into the river, by the way.
Some impressions of the area.
There are a lot of these large vats all around.
An interesting tank. It is rather photogenic, isn't it?
Somewhere around here Main Street will end and there will be a turnaround. Railroad tracks plus other factors preclude joining Main St. with Highway 99 and the Canemah district. But there will be a trail connecting the two parts of town.
More pictures I took.
A spiral staircase. Didn't expect to see this.
A fire escape.
Looking back at the mill as we walk south to the falls.
The main holding tank...
A closer view of the hydroelectric plant.
Controls from the old dam.
The turbines.
Looking back this is your view...
Finally the falls...Definitely the high point of the tour! This view of the falls has been off-limits to public viewing for over a century...but now it can be seen. The river walk will lead here.
