Benfield Loop & Grange Hall Roads

Possible remnants of the pre-HCRH route of the old wire trail and pre-CRH road?

"[From the] ...present location of the Corbett Christian Church ... the Columbia River Highway followed the ancient pathway [of the old Indian trail / wire trail] rather closely until it reached Chanticleer Point."

Between old maps, the date of the Columbian Grange building, and the nature of the highway bypassing Grange Hall Road and the retaining wall on that stretch of the highway, I believe that the bypass around Grange Hall Road was a relatively late addition to the highway. At the very least, the Grange Hall Road is a left-over from the pre-highway county road through here.

I am hoping a deeper dive into the OHC reports will confirm this strong suspicion.

Kirk J. Poole, April 30, 2020

...check this map out [below] that shows former CRH easement east of the Corbett Grange! Look at the old right of way just to the right (200') from the Grange. All of this must have been upgraded when they bypassed Benfield Street. A house sits atop the dashed line part, but I want to look at that lot again and see if I can nail it. I was too busy trying to work in a tight curve at Littlepage and CRH and didn't have this map.

I wondered if this section, below, was originally part of the Highway, or if the "loop" made by Grange Hall and NE Littlepage Roads was the original alignment. By 1927, the current alignment was established, which should, most likely, mean that this was the route from the beginning. The Grange Hall / Littlepage route, along with the Benfield Loop, a little to the west, may be left over traces of the old "wire trail" and 1856 wagon road route, which the HCRH followed through the section.

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