Nomenclature
Robert W. Hadlow, Columbia River Highway Historic District, National Historic Landmark Nomination
The NR nomination for the CRH listed the route as the “Columbia River Highway.” It was a major component of the Oregon State Highway System’s “Columbia River Highway No. 2,” which went from Astoria (at the mouth of the Columbia River) to Portland to The Dalles and ending some 60 miles east of The Dalles, where it became Old Oregon Trail Highway No. 6.
The entire road was designed to the high engineering standards found on the portion in the scenic Columbia River Gorge. The water-level route that succeeded the CRH between Portland and The Dalles was eventually designated as Interstate 84. When this road was opened in the early 1950s as a two-lane route, it became known as the “Columbia River Highway No. 2.” The segmented driveable portions of the old road were assigned several highway names and numbers.
In 1987, the Oregon lawmakers approved Senate Bill 766, which defined those portions of the original Columbia River Highway constructed in Multnomah, Hood River, and Wasco counties from 1913 to 1922 as the “Historic Columbia River Highway.” On 21 July 1993, the Oregon Transportation Commission renamed the entire route as “Historic Columbia River Highway No. 100.” Senate Bill 766 declared it public policy that Oregon preserve and restore the “continuity and historic integrity” of the CRH for “public use and enjoyment.” It also provided for a citizen/agency committee to advise the ODOT director and the Oregon Transportation Commission on the highway’s restoration and preservation. Since then, ODOT began in earnest to restore the road’s driveable sections and reclaim abandoned sections for conversion into a trail for non-motorized use. In the mid-1990s, ODOT completed its repurchase of sections of the highway held in private hands or by local governments. All portions of the CRH are in public ownership. Some resources in this nomination and outside of the current right-of-way boundaries (30-feet either side of centerline) are held by OPRD or the USDA Forest Service—Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (CRGNSA).
...
Beginning in the early 1950s as the state constructed more and more of the water-level route, the CRH was cut up into several secondary highways and county roads. Other parts were destroyed.
Those portions still owned by the state were assigned new names and route numbers. The waterfalls section from Troutdale to Dodson just beyond Multnomah Falls, for instance, was renamed the “Crown Point Highway, No. 125.” The section from Mosier to The Dalles was known as the “Mosier—The Dalles Highway, No. 292.” Much of the route between Dodson and Hood River had been abandoned, with significant structures still in place. Some parts were destroyed. Those portions through the cities of Cascade Locks and Hood River continued to function as city streets and as business loops for Interstate 84, which also carries the designation as U.S. 30 through most of its length. Since 1993, the segmented route from Troutdale to The Dalles was renamed the “Historic Columbia River Highway (HCRH) No. 100”—a single route in the Oregon State Highway System.
...
Between 1913 and 1920, Oregon’s earliest state highway commissioners developed on paper a state highway system. Initially, this included the primary, or “trunk,” routes, such as “Pacific Highway No. 1,” from Portland to the California border; “Columbia River Highway No. 2,”from Astoria to west of Pendleton; “The Dalles-California Highway No. 4, from The Dalles to the California border; “Old Oregon Trail Highway No. 6, beginning at the east end of Columbia River Highway No. 2 and heading east to the Idaho border.
Later on, as the US route system developed, Pacific Highway No. 1 was also known as US 99; the Columbia River Highway No. 2 and the Old Oregon Trail Highway No. 6 were also known as US 30; and The Dalles-California Highway was also known as US 97. Interstate 5 is now known as Pacific Highway No. 1.
The portion of the Columbia River Highway from Astoria to Portland remains as US 30, but is now known as the “Lower Columbia River Highway No. 2W.” Interstate 84 east of Portland has taken over designations as Columbia River Highway No. 2 and Old Oregon Trail Highway No. 6.
Hadlow, Landmark Nomination, 11 - 15