Locke's Highway Palace

ODOT, Historic Columbia River Highway Oral History: Final Report

Ray Galligan, Decedent of the Locke Family, and current resident of the 1908 Locke Home, once referred to as “Locke’s Highway Place”

Ray Galligan was interviewed on June 16, 2009 in his family home located along the Historic Highway. The Galligan Home was built in 1908 by Ray’s great-grandfather, Edgar Locke. The house provided a perfect setting as Kristen Stallman, Sara Morrissey and Ray’s wife, Patricia, sifted through old family pictures and talked about the family history and history of the area. The interview was followed by a tour in which the Galligans showed off pieces of history that are on display throughout their home.

The Locke Family and Early Settlement at Mitchell Point

In 1884 Ray Galligan’s great-grandfather, Edgar Locke (born 1855) moved from Bariboo, Michigan to Hood River, Oregon with his wife Nellie Bayles (born 1858), and his young daughter, Margaret (born 1879). The family purchased over 300 acres on the south shore of the Columbia River west of Hood River, at the foot of Mitchell Point. Edgar soon became known as a skilled orchardist and according to his obituary, his fruit trees often attracted the attention of the passengers of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company trains. The first thing that Edgar did upon arriving at the new homestead was to build a small wood frame house to shelter his family through the harsh Gorge winters to come. The original house stood until 1908, when much of the wood was disassembled and used to build the prominent house (Figure 3.26) that remains today.

Edgar Locke played a prominent role in preserving the name Mitchell Point for the tunnel and area (Figure 3.27). According to a newspaper clipping from Edgar’s obituary in 1920, “When Mitchell Point Tunnel was completed the suggestion was made that the great rock promontory pierced by the noted bore be called Storm King. It was said the Indians had so called the point, declaring that storms coming up the Columbia were split at this point, a part of the storm clouds going off to the north and the rest being shunted off into the brakes west of the Hood River Valley. Mr. Locke, however, was successful in a protest against changing the name. He declared that the name of Mitchell, the pioneer, who settled first in the region, should be maintained in honor of the early settler.”

The Highway Place, the Galligans and Recollections of the Highway

The Locke’s daughter, Margaret, and Ray’s grandmother grew up in the original Locke home. Pictures from her wedding to Wilbur “Dick” Henry Galligan in 1900 show her standing in front of the original Locke house. Margaret and Wilber Galligan moved to the north shore of the Columbia River, and lived directly across from the Locke homestead. They would travel back and forth on a ferry that connected the two properties. When Edgar Locke died in the1920s, the Galligans’ moved back to the Locke’s Highway Place (as it was referred to in Edgar Locke’s obituary).

An old newspaper clipping pulled from the Galligan’s family bible tells a sad story of when Wilbur’s and Margaret’s three-year-old son died of rheumatic fever in 1904. In 1910, Margaret gave birth to another son, Meredith, Ray’s dad. Meredith’s brothers, James and Wilbur Jr., and sister, Loretta, followed. To support his family, Wilbur Galligan maintained a productive fruit orchard that stretched all the way down to the banks of the Columbia River.

Meredith Galligan grew up in the old house working on the farm along with his dad and brothers. He moved out when he married Phyllis Bird, Ray’s mother, in the late 1920s. Ray’s older sister, Myrtle, was born in 1930. Ray followed four years later. Ray spent part of his childhood in Hood River. However, his dad was an electrician and often traveled to where there was work. For a time the family lived in Prineville and Reedsport. When Ray was 16 the family returned home to the house at Mitchell Point.

Ray attended Hood River High School while working with his dad building homes in Hood River and The Dalles. It was during this time that Ray met his wife, Patricia. Ray and Patricia were married in 1953. They moved to Portland where Ray worked as a builder for Timber Structures and Emmert International. In Portland they raised their two sons, Ray Jr. and Ron. During the 1950s, while Ray was living in Portland, his dad operated the farm. During that time the Oregon State Highway Department purchased part of the property, the orchard, for the construction of the freeway. The property included a barn-like structure, which was moved to avoid destruction. In later years, the same structure was moved by Ray in order to place it on a strong foundation. It is the only building remaining from the first homestead.

Ray’s dad also owned a rock pit located at the base of Mitchell Point. He sold the Oregon State Highway Department and the county his gravel. ODOT eventually purchased the pit from him as well.

The landscape of the Galligan’s property changed following the construction of the freeway. Before the freeway, the house and farm had a direct connection to the river (Figure 3.28). Today, that connection is severed by Intestate 84 and the views have been blocked by trees. Patricia recalls fishing at Sturgeon Rock, a large rock located along the shore in front of the Galligan’s place. Today, nobody fishes there because it is difficult to get to.

When asked about trips to Portland on the old highway, both Ray and his wife, Patricia, recalled how long it used to take -- “four hours to get from here to Montgomery Wards.” Ray remembered traffic jams and the general slow-moving highway. There was sure to be solid traffic on the weekends. Ray could see how “it was getting to when they needed a freeway fast then…” As Patricia puts it, the new highway builders “were not history oriented, they were moving forward.”

Upon Ray’s retirement in 1996, fulfilling a life long dream, they returned to the family farm at Mitchell Point. It is at this location where they live today amongst the memories and artifacts from earlier generations, preserving a way of life for their sons and their six grandsons.

Robert W. Hadlow, Cultural Resources Report (Built Environment), Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail Project, Segments E, F, G, and H, Hood River County, Oregon.

Locke/Galligan House

The Locke/Galligan House is two-and-a-half-stories. The main volume has a rectangular footprint and a central hall configuration. There are some additions. The house is in the Classic Revival style, with its porch columns, corner boards, eave brackets, dentil banding, and other design elements. It overlooks Mitchell Point Drive, which is a half-mile-long abandoned segment of the Historic Columbia River Highway that is east of Mitchell Point, west of Hood River. The house is located in Section F of the project.

In 1884, Edgar Locke moved from Bariboo, Michigan, to Hood River, Oregon, with his wife Nellie Bayles, and his young daughter, Margaret. The family purchased over 300 acres on the south shore of the Columbia River west of Hood River, at the foot of Mitchell Point. Edgar earned a reputation as a skilled orchardist. According to his obituary, his fruit trees often attracted the attention of the passengers on the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company trains that passed through his property.

The first thing that Edgar did upon arriving at the new homestead was to build a small wood frame house to shelter his family through the harsh Gorge winters to come. The original house stood until 1908, when Edgar disassembled it and used much of the wood to build the prominent house that remains today along what was once The Dalles-to-Sandy River Military Road. When Hood River County constructed the Historic Columbia River Highway east of the new Mitchell Point Tunnel in 1915, the new road followed the military road’s alignment. Descendants of the Lockes, including the Galligans, owned the house until recently. The surrounding property has changed dramatically over the years. This is especially true following the construction of Interstate 84, beginning in the 1950s. Regardless, the segment of the Historic Columbia River Highway in front of the Locke/Galligan House remains.

Section 106 Level of Effect:

Project work near the house, in Segment F, may include some pavement and signs along Mitchell Point Drive (the historic highway segment in front of the house). Application of Section 106 Criteria for Identification and Evaluation of Historic Properties (36 CFR 800.4 and 5) indicates that the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail Project, Segments E, F, G, and H, will have No Effect to the Locke/Galligan House.

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