Clackamas County Real Estate History: What was once first is now lost to time. The picture below is a picture of a long abandoned railroad bridge, but what is significant about the bridge is that it was a race to finish it.
Back in the early days of the railroad there were two competing railroads and unlike today’s government where they pay people to create things like this, our government did something that was genius! They took the two railroads and pitted them against each other. One wanted to build a track on the Eastside of the Willamette River and the other who wanted it on the Westside.
The deal was the first one to finish the tracks would get to build and complete the line to the south which would mean big money for the railroads, but also the businesses to the area. The Eastside won and got to complete the line to the south making them millions! Everyone had to pay them to use their lines to bring goods to and from the south.
But, in reality it was a win for both the east and the west sides of the river. They now had lines on both sides of the river that cost the government nothing to build other than obtaining the land that was used. Over the years the bridge was considered to unsafe to use any longer and so it was abandoned, but never dismantled. Many hope that one day, like many other rail lines in Portland, it will be rebuilt in to a pedestrian bridge. So, now you know the history behind the Clackamas County bridge that was once first, but now is lost to time.
Clackamas County Real Estate History: What was once first is now lost to time
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