Rickreall Elementary School

Rickreall Elementary School was built in 1923 as a high school. The Rickreall School District consolidated with the nearby Dallas School District in 1945. Rickreall’s high school students began attending classes in Dallas, and the Rickreall High School became Rickreall Elementary School. The school closed at the end of the 2003 school year. It was leased to the Our Jubilee Church and Academy until 2007, and was sold in 2009 to become the Rickreall Event Hall.

Rickreall Grange Hall

The Grange Hall in Rickreall, Oregon, was originally built in 1916 as the town’s public school, housing grades 1 through 12 until the new high school was built nearby in 1923. 

It then housed the younger grades until the Rickreall School District consolidated with the nearby Dallas School District in 1945, when Rickreall’s high school students began attending classes in Dallas, and the Rickreall High School became Rickreall Elementary School. This building was subsequently sold to the Rickreall Grange in 1946.

Tugboat Roughneck

Photo by Cliff West

This tugboat was built by the Calumet Shipyard and Drydock Company of Chicago, Illinois, in 1944 as the United States Army’s LT-59. In 1947, it was acquired by Ocean Prince, Incorporated of Oakland, California, and renamed Ocean Prince. It retained that name as it moved to the Red Star Towing Company of New York, New York, in 1951, to the Smith Brothers Towing Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1955 and to the Gulf and Caribbean Towing Company of Lafitte, Louisiana, in 1961. In 1963 it was renamed Dauphin, and in 1974 it was renamed Beaumont. Eventually it was acquired by the Sause Brothers Ocean Towing Company and renamed Roughneck. It is 114.2 feet long and 30 feet wide, with a draft of 17.2 feet. My dad, Cliff West, photographed it on the Columbia River at Rainier, Oregon, in April or May of 2007.

Spirit of Discovery

Photo by Cliff West

The Spirit of Discovery was originally built in 1976 by Eastern Marine Shipbuilding at Boothbay Harbor, Maine, as the Independence for American Cruise Line. In 1985 it was sold to Great Pacific Cruise Lines and renamed Columbia. It was acquired by Cruise West which renamed it Spirit of Discovery and used it to become the first operator of scheduled overnight cruises on the Columbia River. 

Photo by Cliff West

The Spirit of Discovery is 166 feet long, carries 84 guests, and has a cruising speed of 12 knots. My dad, Cliff West, photographed it on the Columbia River at Rainier, Oregon, in April 2007.

Tugboat Columbia

Photo by Cliff West

Shaver Transportation’s tugboat Columbia was built in 1968 by the Nichols Boat Works of Hood River, Oregon, and was repowered in 1983 with Stork Works engines rated at 2,750 horsepower. It is 87 feet long and 28 feet wide with a loaded draft of 11 feet. My dad, Cliff West, photographed it on the Columbia River at Rainier, Oregon, in late 2006 or early 2007.