Stevenson Washington

Stevenson Washington. A Center of Commerce. George Stevenson stood on the north bank of the Columbia River, listening to it roar through this narrow Gorge, and envisioned a community strategically located for commerce. Every person traveling this liquid highway stopped here above the Cascades of the Columbia to portage these rapids. In 1889, Stevenson purchased the old Shepard donation land claim for $24,000, plotted a riverside town, and gave it his name. , In those early days, rough-and-tumble Stevenson supplied merchandise, entertainment and camaraderie for loggers and farmers scattered across rugged wooded hills. Modern Stevenson conducts its business with a view of one of the finest Gorge vistas. , There were no roads at all... you could scarcely get around by horseback. But we had five or six steamboats a day coming in here, even as late as 1908... No nervous breakdowns in those days because you had to be leisurely whether you wanted to or not. A.C. Sly, early Stevenson resident. . This historical marker is in Stevenson in Skamania County Washington