April 5, 2020

At some point I'll need to run through the pages on all the places she worked and owned and write up a good biography of Margaret, but that will need to wait until the site rebuild is complete. Details of her life are included through the history of the restaurants and inns on the western end of the Gorge.

PDX History: Columbia River Roadhouses

Mrs. Henderson began her career working for Portland’s Meier & Frank Department Store as a waitress and window designer, and she used her skills in interior decorating to design and furnish her eating establishments.

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Mrs. Henderson made a very significant contribution to the development of the Columbia River Highway. She didn’t want her guests to drink and drive, so she had a policy that liquor would not be served in her eating establishments.

Leaving the Chanticleer Inn to have her own eating establishment, Mrs. Henderson built the short-lived Latourell Falls Chalet in 1914 and it was an immediate success. Unfortunately, it burned just three months after opening and she lost everything, including a fine library and handcrafted furniture.

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Failing health caused Mrs. Henderson to sell the [Crown Point] Chalet in 1927. Moving to Portland, Mrs. Henderson opened a modest Third Floor Dining Room on Alder Street. She died at the age of 58 in 1930 after battling a chronic kidney infection.

Links

PDXHistory.com: Columbia River Roadhouses

http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/roadhouses.html

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway