End of historic US highway 830

Approx. time period

East Terminus

West Terminus

1926-1933

(near Goldendale, WA)

(near Naselle, WA)

1933-1949

(northeast of Maryhill, WA)

(near Naselle, WA)

1949-1968

(north of Maryhill, WA)

(near Naselle, WA)


Click to view map
(about 133 k)

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info below is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Mike Wiley


US 830 was an original 1926 route, and it lasted until 1968. It was entirely in Washington, running along the north bank of the Columbia River, connecting US 97 to US 101 near Naselle. It never connected with its implied "parent" (US 30), but that route ran (and still does run) along the south bank in Oregon, right across the river.


This first photo below is looking west on WA hwy. 4 where it ends at US 101:

Wiley, Aug. 2001 (Elbert reports unchanged as of Apr. 2006)

That's essentially where the west end of US 830 used to be (the town of Naselle is about 5 miles behind the camera). However, Chris points out that this junction was realigned at some point, as you can see on the USGS topo below:

The purple roads were revised sometime after the original map was drafted, but the brown lines still indicate the former alignment of the raised roadbed. In 2006 Chris observed that some of the old asphalt still remains.

Below we're on northbound US 101:

Wiley, Aug. 2001 (Elbert reports unchanged as of Apr. 2006)

The west beginning of US 830 was straight ahead. Below we're heading south on US 101:

Elbert, Apr. 2006

US 101 continues to the right, and to the left is the west beginning of WA hwy. 4. That essentially where US 830 once began. Let's have a closer look at that sign:

Elbert, Apr. 2006

Notice anything strange about that? Astoria is served by US 101, so why is Astoria traffic directed to use WA 4? It's because you save about six miles by using WA 4 and WA 104 instead of US 101. OK, so then why isn't the shorter route re-designated as US 101? Hmm... well, my guess would be: tradition and politics. For one thing, the shortcut wasn't opened to traffic until the 1960's, so prior to that the only option heading north from Astoria was via Chinook. But now that the "Naselle shortcut" is an option, coastal towns along old US 101 would undoubtedly be opposed to having US 101 traffic completely bypass their corner of the state. However, there is an "Alternate US 101" that allows through traffic to bypass Ilwaco and Seaview anyway.


(Thanks to Mark Bozanich for the following): Until the mid-1930's there was no highway running along the north bank of the Columbia between Lyle and Maryhill. So when US 830 was first commissioned, traffic was routed northeast out of Lyle, along what is now known as the Centerville Highway: through its eponymous town, ending at US 97 about 4 miles south of Goldendale. The photo below shows the signage at that point:

Elbert, Dec. 2004

Goldendale is to the left via northbound US 97; to the right is the junction with WA hwy. 14, which leads to Vancouver. The backside of that sign is visible in the photo below, which is looking west across US 97, along the historic east beginning of US 830:

Elbert, Dec. 2004


In about 1933, US 830 was rerouted east of Lyle, following the north bank of the Columbia River, largely along what is now WA hwy. 14. So then its endpoint was still at US 97, but further south of Goldendale, closer to Maryhill. Originally US 97 followed an older alignment up the Columbia Hills north of Maryhill. North of modern hwy. 14, this route is now known as the "Old Maryhill Loops Road", so-called because of the tortuous switchbacks that almost seem to be stacked on top of each other (Chris Elbert, who has done extensive research and taken numerous photos in the area, tells me it was recently re-paved and opened to non-motorized traffic). South of hwy. 14, US 97 partially followed what is now a county road used to access the Stonehenge replica. However, Chris believes the middle segment of that road is newer, and that old US 97 followed a different route slightly downslope from there (now mostly abandoned). Following are some of his photos); this first one is looking west on Stonehenge Road:

Elbert, summer 2004

Chris' best guess is that this used to be southbound US 97, which continued down the canyon at left, winding up at the old ferry landing in Maryhill (US 97 traffic crossed the Columbia via ferry until about 1962). Straight ahead would've been the east beginning of US 830. Below we're looking the opposite direction (west on Stonehenge):

Elbert, summer 2004

That likely shows the former east end of US 830, because US 97 came up from the lower right and continued ahead and to the right.


It was about 1949 when this route was bypassed in favor of modern US 97. At that time US 830 was reconfigured too, and then its east end was a little ways to the north and west from here (where today's WA 14 meets US 97). You can view photos from that junction on this page.






Page created 12 April 2002; last updated 23 April 2006.
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