Arlington, Oregon, on the Columbia River - 1939

Arlington is an early Oregon town located on the Columbia River at the mouth of Alkali Canyon, about fifty miles east of The Dalles. In the early 1870s, settlers built corrals here to hold sheep and cattle waiting to be transported downriver.

Like a number of towns along the Columbia, Arlington had to be re-located due to the building of a dam, in this case, the John Day. This was in the 1960s, about 25 years after this photo was taken.

Unlike most of these towns, the business district was rebuilt in approximately the same location, as buildings were removed and compacted fill raised the level of the ground. Homes and the grade school were rebuilt on higher elevations in the surrounding hills.

-- This photo is restored and printed by Old Oregon.