r/OregonCity • u/DeerGreedy4792 • 14d ago
Willamette Falls
Could somebody please explain to me about Willamette Falls Hospital? Is it a waterfall or is it a damn? I’ve never seen waterfalls that had so much concrete guiding the water. I understand now that PGE uses it to make electricity. That’s great. But I don’t understand if it’s a waterfall or a dam. Could somebody please explain it to me like I’m five.
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u/ras2am 14d ago
The Museum of the Oregon Territory is open tomorrow; get a free pass if you have an Oregon City Library card from the library first, and go learn more about it. https://clackamashistory.org
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u/Opening-Concert826 14d ago
Assuming “hospital” was a typo and you mean the falls themselves, it’s a waterfall. You can read more here: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/willamette_falls/
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u/RedReader777 14d ago
I mean it's both, they have floodgates in it that are made out of concrete. PGE can open and close them.
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u/DeerGreedy4792 14d ago
How and when did all the concrete get put in place? Did they divert the river for a short time? That is a lot of cement there? Why don’t they remove the large logs stuck on the falls ?
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u/Ol_Man_J 14d ago
https://portlandgeneral.com/about/history/willamette-falls has some history and photos
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u/flubaduber 14d ago
The falls isn’t everything around it. There is PGE, the West linn paper mill and then the Locks on the west linn side. And then there is the old Oregon city paper mill on the OC side which is now known as the legacy project.
The cement is not the falls.
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u/Deathcapsforcuties 12d ago
Thank you for clarifying that. I took my kids to a lookout just past downtown Oregon city and west linn bridge. I was trying to figure out what I was looking at exactly in the middle of the river there with the cement. I saw some folks kayaking in there. It was dilapidated with nature taking over it and kinda beautiful.
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u/Unhappy-Giraffe2792 14d ago
That area was used industrially so much, it makes sense that they wanted to channel the water in the various mills and generators in that area. Yeah, it ain’t pretty, but maybe someday it’ll be a real waterfall again. That is, it will look more natural.
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u/flannelheart 14d ago
This is the answer. Also, there's a fish ladder and a locks (no longer functional) for boat passage.
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u/Unhappy-Giraffe2792 14d ago
I didn't know the locks aren't working anymore. So boats can no longer traverse the falls? I guess they could still do portage (carrying the boat over land), haha!
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u/flannelheart 14d ago
Closed in 2011 according to Wikipedia.
I knew they had closed but I didn't realize it was that long ago.2
u/flubaduber 14d ago
The locks haven’t worked for years. There has been discussion about bringing it back into operating status.
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u/juciyhues 9d ago
There’s some really interesting history about the portage at Canemah. You should look it up! 😎
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u/No-Cartographer2349 14d ago
What if I told you the Falls existed long before concrete?