{{Short description|Former tunnel of the Historic Columbia River Highway}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox tunnel |name = Mitchell Point Tunnel |image = Mitchell Point Tunnel April 2024 - 53664951541.jpg |caption = View of the Columbia River from inside the rebuilt tunnel in 2024 |route = Historic Columbia River Highway |location = Columbia River Gorge |coordinates = {{coord|45.704096|-121.616839|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |status = Active |opened = 1915 |closed = 1966 |rebuilt = 2021-2024 |reopened = 2025 |owner = Oregon Department of Transportation |traffic = Bike, pedestrian |hielevation = |lowelevation= }} The '''Mitchell Point Tunnel''' is a tunnel at the eastern end of the Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon, United States, west of Hood River. The original tunnel existed from 1915 to 1966. A pedestrian and bike only tunnel opened on March 21, 2025, after a dedication ceremony on November 16, 2024.
==History== thumb|left|Looking up from the river thumb|Entrance to the original tunnel The tunnel was designed by John Arthur Elliott, who was inspired by a tunnel similarly set into a cliff face above Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.<ref name="odot">{{cite web | url=http://library.state.or.us/repository/2007/200701031214353/index.pdf | title=Historic Columbia River Highway Recording Project | publisher=Oregon Department of Transportation | access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> It was built in 1915 and opened late in the year, the first major roadway tunnel in the United States.<ref name="book">{{cite book |url={{Google books |I4t4CAAAQBAJ |pg=PA103 |plainurl=yes}} |title=Reference Guide to Famous Engineering Landmarks of the World: Bridges, Tunnels, Dams, Roads and Other Structures |publisher=Routledge |last1=Berlow |first1=Lawrence |date=2015 |isbn=978-1579580926}}</ref> The tunnel measured {{convert|390|ft|m}} long, {{convert|18|ft|m}} wide, and {{convert|10|ft|m}} tall.<ref name="book"/> At the time it was one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, sections of road ever built.<ref>Motoring Magazine and Motor Life, July 1915, p. 14</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1915-07-11/ed-1/seq-43/|title=The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, July 11, 1915, SECTION THREE, Page 11, Image 43 « Historic Oregon Newspapers}}</ref>
In 1932, the Toothrock Tunnel was opened, and some traffic was rerouted to the new alignment,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/march02/briefings_tunnel.html | title=Tunnel Creator Honored by Scholarship | publisher=Columns - The University of Washington Alumni Magazine | date=March 2002 | access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> though Mitchell Point Tunnel remained open to vehicle traffic until the early 1950s, when the road was rerouted to the base of Mitchell Point.<ref name="odot"/> The tunnel was subsequently blocked off with debris, and remained closed until 1966 when it was destroyed as part of Interstate 80N construction.<ref name="odot"/> thumb|"The Most Costly Road in the World" "Mitchell's Point Cut on Columbia Expensive Piece of Highway Engineering" July, 1915 article (part 1) thumb|"The Most Costly Road in the World" "Mitchell's Point Cut on Columbia Expensive Piece of Highway Engineering" July, 1915 article (part 2) As part of the rebuilding of the Columbia River Highway into a network of trails, the Oregon Department of Transportation has considered the possibility of boring a new tunnel on Mitchell Point.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://gorgenewscenter.com/mitchell-point-project-receives-28-million-from-us-dept-of-transportation/ | title=Mitchell Point project receives $28 million from US Dept. of Transportation | publisher=Gorge News Center | date=26 November 2016 | access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>
Mitchell's Point is named for Captain Mitchell, an early Oregon settler who was said to have jumped from the point to commit suicide, rather than be captured by natives, during a conflict in 1856 later dubbed the Cascades Massacre.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Native Americans attack Americans at the Cascades of the Columbia on March 26, 1856. |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/5190 |access-date=2021-06-02}}</ref> In 1921 there were two proposals to change the name to honor heroes of overseas wars.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scenic Point Turns Mind to Tragic Legend |date=October 9, 1921 |first=Claude L. |last=Simpson |work=Oregon Journal |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042444/1921-10-09/ed-1/seq-55/ }}</ref>
In 2021 the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced commencement of a project to build a replica tunnel in the original location.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-20|title=Columbia Gorge’s Mitchell Point Tunnel Soon to Be a Restored Treasure|url=https://www.myoregon.gov/2021/05/20/columbia-gorges-mitchell-point-tunnel-soon-to-be-a-restored-treasure/|access-date=2021-12-13|website=My Oregon News|language=en-US}}</ref> On November 16, 2024, ODOT held a preview event, letting people view the Columbia River Gorge from Mitchell Point Tunnel for the first time in 71 years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maus |first=Jonathan |date=November 11, 2024 |title=Mitchell Point Tunnel in the Gorge open to the public for first time in 71 years this weekend |url=https://bikeportland.org/2024/11/11/this-weekend-the-mitchell-point-tunnel-in-the-gorge-will-open-to-the-public-for-first-time-in-71-years-391232 |work=Bike Portland |access-date=February 24, 2025}}</ref> The tunnel opened on March 21, 2025.
==See also== *List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon *List of tunnels documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{wikisource-inline|Motoring Magazine and Motor Life/July 1915#costly|The Most Costly Road in the World|single=true}} *{{HAER |survey=OR-36-R |id=or0376 |title=Historic Columbia River Highway, Mitchell Point Tunnel and Viaduct, Through Lower Mitchell Point on Historic Columbia River Highway, Troutdale, Multnomah County, OR |data=29}} *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708175831/http://www.columbiariverhighway.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?cat=2&album=search&search=mitchells_point Vintage Postcards of Mitchell Point Tunnel]}}
Category:Road tunnels in Oregon Category:Columbia River Gorge Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon Category:Historic Columbia River Highway Category:History of transportation in Oregon Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Hood River County, Oregon Category:Tunnels completed in 1915 Category:1915 establishments in Oregon