__NOTOC__ Shepperd's Dell is a small canyon in the Columbia River Gorge in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, located at which is less than one-third mile (500 m) southeast of Rooster Rock State Park. The Shepperd's Dell Bridge is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The

Historic Columbia River Highway The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United ...

runs over the dell on a bridge that was the answer to one of the engineering challenges of the highway's construction. The dell was carved by a creek that includes two fairly substantial tumbling waterfalls. Due to the topography of the area, it is difficult to photograph the falls. As such, the bridge is what is normally pictured, and thus is arguably better known than the dell itself. The spelling of the dell's name tends to vary depending on the source. The official Oregon State Park site spells it with the apostrophe, however the GNIS entry omits the apostrophe.

Oregon Geographic Names ''Oregon Geographic Names'' is a compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon, published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. McArth ...

appears to make a distinction between the name of the geographic feature and the name of the state park (now a state natural area), referring to both Shepperds Dell and Shepperd's Dell State Park.McArthur, Lewis A. and Lewis L. McArthur, "Shepperds Dell", ''Oregon Geographic Names'' (Seventh Edition), Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, Oregon, 2003, p. 867. Omitting the apostrophe when referring to the dell itself is consistent with the policies of the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

, which strongly discourages the use of possessive apostrophes in geographic names.

Shepperd's Dell Bridge

The Shepperd's Dell Bridge is apparently an

open spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

concrete

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

. It is a

contributing structure In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the Columbia River Highway Historic District which was listed on the National Register in 1983.

References

External links

Shepperd's Dell State ParkShepperds Dell Bridge on the Historic Columbia River HighwayVintage Postcards of Shepperd's Dell and Shepperd's Dell Bridge
* {{authority control Canyons and gorges of Oregon Columbia River Gorge Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon Historic Columbia River Highway Waterfalls of Multnomah County, Oregon Parks in Multnomah County, Oregon State parks of Oregon Waterfalls of Oregon

Shepperd's Dell Bridge

See also

References

External links