Visual History

ImageBingen Point before creation of the Bonneville Pool
DatePrior to 1937 (estimated)
PerspectiveFacing East


The entire Bingen Point area as it originally existed can be seen in this photograph. With the construction of the Bonneville Dam and Pool, an estimated twenty to thirty percent of the waterfront property shown was submerged. State Route 14 and the BNSF rail line can be seen running generally from the lower left toward the upper right of the photograph with the Port's initial land acquisitions (fka Bingen West), the present day SDS Lumber Mill property, the Port's current land holdings (fka Bingen East), and the present day Dickey Farms properties appearing just to the right of the rail line. Maple Street can be seen running from the center of the photograph toward the right side, turning toward the top of the picture in the vicinity of the current Port dike (the rest of the property toward the river is now submerged). A relatively small Bingen Lake can be seen draining into a winding channel running vertically in the right half of the photograph (the north portion of this channel would later be opened to the Columbia River, creating the entrance to Bingen Harbor). A rail siding north of the train depot can be seen where Depot Street now exists and the single-lane railroad underpass serving the Bingen West properties and now SDS Lumber can be found in the lower left portion of the image.

Photograph showing Bingen Point before the construction of Bonneville Dam and subsequent flooding