Elevator Street - Visiting the Oregon City Municipal Elevator 

Neither of the mills at the falls were lumber mills. They were both paper mills. The lubmber mills (long since demolished) were located further north along the railroad, close to where the End of The Oregon Trail Interpretavie Center is located today. The waterfall along the staircase is Singer Creek Falls. The Stonework you see was put in place to prevent flood damage during heavy rains, which is a large part of why the original wooden staircase had to be rebuilt with stone.

Born and raised here in OC. I can't even count how many times I went up and down this elevator! So many memories. My dad remembers when they rebuilt the elevator in 54. Thank you for an amazing documentary on our beloved gem❤

I grew up here in the sixties and not a lot has changed from when I used to ride this all the time. It did used to have an operator during the day who would hand out "free pass" tickets as mementos. Fun to see this again. Thanks for sharing, Steve.

There’s another vertical “street” associated with Oregon, most specifically, the Oregon trail. Probably the most arduous of the trek west, was the chutes. Most famous was the Laurel Hill / Barlow Road chutes. The only way to descend below was to tie ropes to trees and lower the wagons down. What an “E” ticket ride that would be! Certainly it was the most despised by the pioneers. A movie that highlights this starred Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark in The Way West. Well worth the watch. Thank you for showing us this ‘vertical’ street. Been to Oregon City on numerous occasions. Was not aware of this.

Another show that was filmed there was an episode of "Route 66" with Martin Milner and George Maharis. I think Robert Walker, Jr. was the guest star.

I live in Oregon City. And before the pandemic, there used to be an elevator operator.

As an Oregon City resident, I'd like to say thank you for doing such a great job with this tour. Really well done and entertaining. Liked and subscribed!

*I just found your channel a few days ago and I really enjoy your delivery and how much you care about what you do. Thank you for sharing your heart, spirit, and love of the United States. 🥰*

Fascinating! You never fail to disappoint with these unique and strange locations/stories. Never heard of this street! Love the etched glass (?) showing the landmarks. Man, all the water and greenery is so refreshing to see while living in this heatwave we've got going on.

I never would have thought of a street as being vertical, but leave it to you to find one... Great video. Thanks!

The walking path across the top of the bluff is called the Promenade. During the early 90's there was massive flooding in town and the top of the falls was completely obscured by water. The falls were basically invisible. During the 1800's during times of high water, ferry boats were launched off the top of the falls and served the Willamette river residents from Oregon City to Portland and beyond. So much history here. Thanks again for all that you do.

I was born and grew up in O.C. many decades ago. This video is wonderful for me. We walked all the streets for many yrs as growing Children and would ride the elevator for fun as well. My home! Thanks for the memories. 🎉. 👍

I live just down the street from here! It's an awesome relaxing time for a date in Oregon City. Lots of boutiques and shops and restaurants that are all walking distance. There is also ample parking near the vertical street on the weekends. Also, being from San Diego, I love the hat my guy! Go Padres!

Oregon city is also the birthplace of true hydroelectric industrialization in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The river that is just a couple blocks from the elevator, has one of the higher water flow hydroelectrics. That power pretty much built what is now Portland. The industrialization that ran all the way up the river, that received power from it, is what made Portland so industrious.

Thanks for visiting my town! Years ago now, I did a blog post on the elevator, it is one of only two outdoor, cliffside elevators in the world, the other being in Italy. There is also a lone standing vertical outdoor elevator in England built by an elevator company, but it does not go anywhere, it is just a novelty. What you referred to as a lumber mill was actually a paper mill and will probably end up being a Super Fund Clean Up Site. Some episodes of the tv show Grimm and The Librarians have been filmed there. The empty plaque you saw on that Promenade walk referred to a married couple that used to tend to flowers along that 1/2 mile strip of the Promenade. They have long since passed away and the landscaping and flowers no longer exist.

One of the highlights of my week is “visiting” the fascinating places featured in your videos. Much appreciation from San Diego.

I look forward to your historic lessons every week! Thank you!

This is as unique as many of your other awesome videos! I use to haul giant paper rolls all across the country from those mills on the river. They are all shut down now.

Gary and I used to ride our bikes down those stairs. Never tried to go up. You had to ride up the highway and back down High Street. (I had much stronger legs in 1960)

When I was a kid in the late 90s/early 2000s this Elevator used to have an attendant in it that would send it up and down for you and would happily give you facts and history about the elevator, I adore this elevator to this day and riding it was and is always an enjoyable memory.

We were about two miles from there on one of our cross-country trips and had no idea! Thanks for showing us.

This is a beautiful video about the Oregon City elevator. As a resident of the city for 30+ years, I loved going down the steps next to the McLoughlin house and down the steps to Downtown Oregon City on weekends and during the summer months to shop at the vintage toy store with my dad.

I used to take that bridge you see from West Linn to Oregon City - all the way to the top of the hill - when I was a student at Clackamas Comm. College way back when. Cool trip down memory lane. 😍

i lived in the surrounding area on and off for 20 years. this is my first time listening to this story! Fascinating! thank you !

I'm still growing up in this area and I've taken this elevator probably about a dozen times; the most recent being a couple months ago, which looks like the same time you posted this (I guess we just missed each other on the stairs!). It's a really cool feature of Oregon City. I also enjoy walking over to get the view of Willamette Falls. I really enjoyed this video. Certainly, there is a bit of nostalgia, but I would be impressed if this were not were not as close to home.

Wow! You aced this one! And, I love how you pepper the description with facts, humor and keen observation. I know it takes a lot of time driving, visiting, dialogue and editing, but I wish you could put these out more often! I think a lot of folks look everyday even if notification is turned on just to see if they missed anything. Well done!

That is a very pretty stairway. Too bad the steps are so shallow. I guess people would take them 2 at a time most likely. Convenient to have the elevator but you miss a sweet shady meander along the river by taking that. Thanks for another interesting video.

I lived in Oregon city for a long time and this was a refreshing trip down memory lane, thank you

I had watched this when it came on but wanted to leave a comment. I was watching an episode of Route 66 that had been filmed in Oregon City and the vertical street was shown.

I live near Oregon City and whenever I went to the Courthouse to work every early morning, the man made Falls would light up with different colors. It still does as far as I know.

I've been wanting to say to you Steve that YOU Would have been an Excellent Teacher! You find awesome and splendid topics to teach us and you make it fun, interesting and leaving us wanting more! I'm thinking Sarah Chase was not a popular Lady around town in her quest to not give up any of her Family owned land. I'm laughing too knowing that there are people who are triggered that this is not a Street, but an Elevator! But did soften their blow by simply stating "I do not make the rules" LOLOL The Views from that Deck are Spectacular! I really appreciated the historic old homes and buildings too! I too would rather go down those stairs rather than climb! Great fun as always Steve! Thank you for my seat! MOO From COW-lumbus, Ohio

My husband and I went to see the elevator yesterday and we walked down the steps after the ride up. It is a good little outing. Your video is a very nice. We like to learn a bit of history.

I grew up in Ticonderoga New York. The town actually surrounded the paper mill and it stunk like hell downwind! The old newscaster Chet Huntley was going to buy a house on Lake george, until the wind shifted! He was gone like the wind! They have since built a new paper mill 25 Mi outside of town! The townsfolk cheered when the stink went away!!

The stairs are awesome, the fountain and the Trail to Willemette Falls and the museum

thank you once again👍🏼 love your shows and thank you for taking us along… vertical street 🤷🏼‍♂️ but now we have seen it 😎

Thank you so much! I lived in Oregon City for many years. And for a year and a half just a few blocks from here in the historic bus depot building. Just south of town on the highway to Canby is an amazing museum full of artifacts from the local area. I really enjoy your channel and appreciate your work and effort. Cheers!

I go to the vintage toy store right next to the elevator all the time, its great

Aye! You're in my town! I use that elevator every so often. I didn't know it was considered a vertical street, just a way to avoid hiking up to the top of the hill when I'm tired.

OC’s my hometown. I’m an Elevator Enthusiast. This is the ONLY Municipal Elevator in the US but there’s one in Montreal. This Elevator was built in 1955, it got Modded in 2004. There’s two interesting Elevators on Main. Back then, there was an Elevator operator which I’m glad they got rid of that. But aye, welcome home in this area g!!

Thanks for taking us along on your ride to the top of Elevator Street.

This is pretty cool...I'm embarassed to say that I lived in the Portland suburbs for nearly 20 years and never went to Oregon City...

Thanks for sharing this. My wife and I added this to our list of places to visit in Oregon. Had a fun time there exploring.

Really interesting history! The shallow depth of those stairs probably makes it much easier to climb, but 700 steps!!! Yikes!!! Good video!

Don't know if you're going to be in the Silverton area of Oregon (kinda near Salem), but The Oregon Garden is pretty cool. They have a little info on Bigfoot and a Lewis and Clark section. There's also the "Willamette Mission State Park" with the nations largest black cottonwood and a replica frame for the Methodist a church that brought Chritianity to the Oregon country in the 1800s. There's Champoeg State Park, where there's a monument for a very important vote in the forming of Oregon or Oregon territory. And the Oregon Korean Memorial in Wilsonville was impressive. The outside of the memorial was nice, the inside was being worked on when I went couple years ago.

So weird to just be scrolling youtube and recognize a location 😆 I look at this from across the Willamette every day on my drive in to work and I had no idea what it was for! Thanks for this video; I'll have to go check it out in person!

Hey Steve, maybe you can come up to Northern California and visit Oroville Dam? It is the tallest dam in the United States. Everyone thinks the Hoover dam is the tallest but it’s not. They have a visitor center and a lot of history around here.

Steve, I've gotta say these travels of yours are truly enjoyable! Your presentation & soundtrack are impeccable!👍 In my own personal travels, I've never been to the Pacific NW. This is the kind of offbeat stuff I look for! Around 15 years ago, I was working in Iowa & I went to the filming locations for Field of Dreams. Not just the baseball field, the town where they shot Burt Lancaster's doctors office! That was detective work on my part! Thanks for the videos!! Safe travels!!👍

I've driven by that so many times and never knew all of that. Thanks!

As always, watching your video was ten minutes well spent: I was entertained, I learned something and I have something to add to my own notebook of places to stop by if I am ever in town. Thanks, Steve for taking the time to make these videos!

Coming down those stairs would be a cinch with a full suspension mountain bike. Hahaha

I live in the Portland area and this video captures the "street" very well.

Oregon City has some beautiful scenery and this little gem is the best! Thanks for the education.

Thanks again! Always a pleasant time watching your videos.

An Oregon City Native I was not expecting to see a video about our elevator. Some information about OC that I think is even cooler than the elevator and being the end of the Oregon Trail, is the history of the Willamette Falls. The Willamette Falls is the second largest water fall in the united states in both volume of water spilled and total with of the falls, behind only Niagara Falls. Additionally the falls were used to generate electricity and was the source of the first long distance electricity transfer from Oregon City to Portland (your welcome world). The mills you pointed out in the video at the base of the falls are actually paper mills although the one on the Oregon City side has not operated in about a decade and there are currently plans being developed to turn the area into a city park and to restore the falls to a more natural state. On the West Lynn side of the falls the Army Corp of Engineers operated a set of locks for a long time until they were eventually closed permanently due to a lack of use and increasing cost of maintenance. If you had followed the stairs under the road at the top of the cliff you would have emerged by the John McLoughlin Hose the leader of the Hudson Bay Trapping Company. I do not think that Mt Hood is visible from the elevator however, because the top of the cliffs continues up a steep hillside which obscures any view of the mountain which is due east.

Thank you Steve !! What a blast seeing this ! Always an informative, fun watch..... Cheers from Detroit 🇺🇲

Worth watching, as always!

Ive lived in Portland my whole life yet ive never heard of this. Thanks for sharing!

A really cool place. Not sure I would want to have to go up the stairs, but a downward journey would be more than worth the time just for the beauty of it. Thanks for another great, informative video. Looking forward to the next. Steve in Oklahoma

I pass by this thing all the time. I've lived in OC for way too long, but sad to say I've never taken the time to use the steps. I am going to try it next time I can now. It's a really cool place to live and you kind of get a mini-city with lots of cool stuff without the Portland traffic and crazy encounters.

Awesome history, Steve. I’ve never been to Oregon before but if I do this will be on their list. My dad grew up in Pittsburgh. You might know there is a fernicular there. I think that was used for many of the workers leaving the steel mills after work -so good observation of the value of this after 12 hours of hard labor! Love you brother!

You are the only one that I know who can make an elevator interresting. :)

Another fun trip! Thank you

Man, my parents live right across that bridge you film at the beginning. I drove across that bridge every day for like a year when I worked in OC in high school, but I've never actually used the elevator. I'll have to go next time I visit.

It's actually a historically rich town. Seeing the historical photos, it is mind blowing how beautiful it used to be

Another very cool adventure!!! Thanks Steve!!!

That's so cool! Thanks for sharing this!

Thats was VERY interesting!!!! Really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing!!

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for this video : I have a part time job, where I do frequent pickups to downtown Oregon City, literally steps away from this vertical street. I've long wondered about this tower. I'm going to check this out ASAP. I adore Oregon City. I've considered moving there many times. Thank you again, so much, for this video, SA.

Beautiful view and so much more, Thanks for sharing

Thank you for such a cool video!

I just moved into this area, and although I had visited Oregon City before I did not know the elevator it's actually a Street! Thank you for this entertaining piece of information. I subscribed and I'm looking forward to your next adventue.

Something new to see next time I visit my Portland relatives! Thanks!

In all my years living here, I've never gone up the elevator even though I've driven by it many times. I'll have to go check it out next time I'm up in the area!

You do an absolutely amazing job in these videos!!!!! I’m an sad that you didn’t include a mention of the (The father of Oregon) Dr. John McLaughlin and his wife’s house & grave site that you were within 100-200 feet of you when you were at the top of those stairs (right across the street) The two sites are easily shoehorned together by there historical significance & proximity and the view and short stroll along the cliff between them.

Great video Steve

Love your videos 😀!! very fun and educational. Hope to be able to explore these areas in person someday 😊

Hi, Steve. I enjoy all of your videos. Thanks for sharing! 😄❤

Another great video, Steve -- thanks !!! :)

Thanks! Steve

Love your ability to find such wacky sites.

Excellent video. Thank you :)

Cool video. Thanks for making it.

Pretty cool 👌🏼. I live not too far away (north about 5miles) and have never checked out the stairway 😆. ~ I hope you had a chance to check out Corner14 food cart area and local restaurants like Mi Famiglia Pizzeria & Ingrid’s Scandinavian Food restaurant 👍🏼.

Used it frequently when I lived in OC. 😌❤️🇺🇸

Quite an interesting historic landmark in Oregon City. The elevator was originally powered by city water, hydraulic? My former job in N. CA had a sidewalk elevator that was city water powered it was decommissioned decades ago. The interior freight elevator was also hydraulic, and likely was water powered there was a pulley still attached at the top of the hoist way. Before it was converted to electric, manually operated. It was interesting the Street Elevator was not electric to begin with back the day winding drum elevators were common.

It rains about eight months a year in that part of Oregon, so it makes sense that they fortified those stairs.

Wow! I live very close to there in Wilsonville. Oregon City is an interesting place.

I think this is the coolest subject you've ever done and I really want to visit now! That gift shop is the kind of niche souvenirs that I love too. I would love to live in this city wow

THANK YOU STEVE,VERY COOL

Interesting. I have been by that elevator probably 1000 times and never rode it. I grew up in Portland and never got out there growing up. Nice video and very informative. I knew nothing about the history of the elevator but learned about the state history in school.

Nice that its free. Great views.

use to get chiropractic adjustments near the library which is near the elevator, cool little place to see a good view of oregon city.

What an interesting story!

The boardwalks, with private homes built along side, built around the east side of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill are also almost vertical local streets.

That’s really cool and to be so historic !! We recently had a similar new one put in at the Everett, Wa. waterfront. Elevator and stairs then you walk over the train tracks across a foot bridge to the neighborhood at the top of the cliffs. There’s a nice park there :)

Thanks Steve for another interesting adventure. I googled also to no avail.

Very cool!!! 🐈‍⬛🐾🐈🐾👍

I live here. Love this place. Good people.

Thanks!