Portland & Southwestern Railroad Tunnel, Willamette Meridian, Chapman, Columbia County, OR

Significance: The Portland and Southwestern Railroad Tunnel is one of the longer semi-temporary railroad tunnels built for logging transport in Oregon and the only tunnel to cross the divide of the Oregon coastal range. It provides a unique surviving example of the timber construction typical of the early twentieth century before tunnel linings were improved by cement or masonry overlaying the timbers. The railroad tunnel was built solely for the purpose of transporting timber and served to open up the rich Nehalem Valley to loggers.
Survey number: HAER OR-3
Building/structure dates: 1910 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1913-1918 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1919-1920 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1921 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: ca. 1943 Subsequent Work