Piling On

[AlanLichty]

All along the Columbia River are leftover pilings from early industrial strength salmon fishing as the Euro-American settlers figured out ways to mass harvest the fish. Fish wheels were common in the early 1900's along the river extending out over the river on pilings like the one shown below. The pilings are the only things left from this endeavor beyond massive reductions in the salmon populations from over fishing. This is a shot from early November.

C&C always welcome.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I have seen all these pilings but never knew their purpose. Thanks for adding to my education.

 

[AlanLichty]

I have seen all these pilings but never knew their purpose. Thanks for adding to my education.

Thanks Ben - not all of the pilings are from fish wheels but this one has the distinct shape of the devices. There is a museum just outside of Stevenson that has good images of the wheels during that era.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

All along the Columbia River are leftover pilings from early industrial strength salmon fishing as the Euro-American settlers figured out ways to mass harvest the fish. Fish wheels were common in the early 1900's along the river extending out over the river on pilings like the one shown below. The pilings are the only things left from this endeavor beyond massive reductions in the salmon populations from over fishing. This is a shot from early November.

View attachment 54586

C&C always welcome.

I think there is a book in the future for you on the Oregon coastline.

 

[AlanLichty]

I think there is a book in the future for you on the Oregon coastline.

Thanks Doug - I am mostly just citing other people's work - with some pictures of course

 

[BlackRockArt]

All along the Columbia River are leftover pilings from early industrial strength salmon fishing as the Euro-American settlers figured out ways to mass harvest the fish. Fish wheels were common in the early 1900's along the river extending out over the river on pilings like the one shown below. The pilings are the only things left from this endeavor beyond massive reductions in the salmon populations from over fishing. This is a shot from early November.

View attachment 54586

C&C always welcome.

Alan, great find & thanks for the little history lesson, I have always wonder what the heck these are.

Oliver

 

[AlanLichty]

Alan, great find & thanks for the little history lesson, I have always wonder what the heck these are.

Oliver

Thanks Oliver - there are pilings in other places along the Columbia that were docks or processing facilities besides the fish wheel sites but the layout here is a match for the fish wheels.

 

[Beth]

i've seen those around here, always wondered what they were for. thanks for the info.

 

[AlanLichty]

i've seen those around here, always wondered what they were for. thanks for the info.

Thanks Beth - as I mentioned to Oliver not all of the pilings in the rivers were fish wheels but once they were introduced into North America from Europe they caught on like wildfire. I know of quite a few sets of pilings in the area of Astoria that were canneries for both river and ocean fishing vessels and others that were docks for ferries. The area where the pilings shown above were located (near Stevenson, WA) was a hotspot for fish wheels.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice light on the foliage and a nice color combination with the water.

good info about the history behind these pilings.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice light on the foliage and a nice color combination with the water.

good info about the history behind these pilings.

Thanks Jameel - that was one of my last good days for flying up the gorge for light and foliage. Things are a bit on the damp side up there right now. Glad you liked the background on the pilings. I am always curious about the things we leave behind

 

[JimFox]

That's so interesting Alan. The most interesting thing I think is that they are still there! You were have thought they would have totally deteriorated by now.

 

[AlanLichty]

That's so interesting Alan. The most interesting thing I think is that they are still there! You were have thought they would have totally deteriorated by now.

Thanks Jim - there are a lot of old pilings all along the Columbia with most looking just about like these. They are still there but you wouldn't want to try to build something on top of them. You really don't see the layouts of the buildings they were supporting from the shore like you can from the drone's view.

 

[Bob Israel]

Love this shot. The old pilings are nice and crisp and the shadow they cast just adds to the overall scene.

 

[AlanLichty]

Love this shot. The old pilings are nice and crisp and the shadow they cast just adds to the overall scene.

Thanks - I honestly didn't realize how well the pilings came out until I was looking at them on my screen at home and realized we could see the outline of the buildings that were out over the water once upon a time.