Tongue Point State Park

Tongue Point
DOGAMI Lidar: OpenStreetMap Base Maphttps://gis.dogami.oregon.gov/maps/lidarviewer

A. F. Litt, March 10, 2020

So, the 1940 Journey Across Oregon excerpt says, "At 100.7 m. [West of Portland] is Tongue Point State Park; here is a junction with a gravel road." However, a quick Google search reveals that such a park no longer exists. I'll need to search deeper, later, after the site is rebuilt to find out the history of what appears to be a decommissioned state park.

For now, I have two working theories...

The first is that this was a wayside that no longer served any practical purpose when the highway was rerouted to the south. Perhaps the big, grassy field is a remnant of it? It seems to match the description, Tongue Point Road is right across the old highway from here, though it is no longer a gravel road!

My second theory is that it was out on the point itself, where the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge segment is now located. It could be that, between the Job Corps. and Coast Guard facilities, it was no longer accessible to the public, and so ceded at some point to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)?

Maybe the whole point used to be a State Park, and was parceled off to the various federal agencies over time?

More research is needed. The links, below, to my Public Lands website, may be a good starting point for a deeper dive into the topic. Feel free to explore and let me know what you find! It might be a good long while before I can get to it!

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Jamen Lee (OPRD), March 13, 2020:

I checked out the property records at work and didn't find anything that state parks has owned there in the past. If they were there, my guess would be it was some sort of temp maintenance agreement.

Kirk J. Pool, March 10, 2020:

I think the USN took over the land in 1941 or so. No mention otherwise what happened to it.

An old State Park Wayside?
v.2020.007Google Earth Imagery Date: October 12, 2018

Taylor mentions a "Tongue Point Village" that the old highway "passed through" that, later on, became "a military site." (81)

National Park Service: Tongue Point

Tongue Point is a High Potential Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Located off US Highway 30 and now called Tongue Point, the peninsula comprises a US Jobs Corps Campus, US Coast Guard facility, commercial shipping yards, and a component of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. Public access is restricted, but the landform is viewable and interpreted from wildlife refuge public areas to the east, and the Astoria Riverwalk to the west. The “Tongue Point” name predated Lewis and Clark, given by British explorer George Vancouver in 1792.

https://www.nps.gov/places/tongue-point.htm