Staten Gas Station

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This modest building on the Sandy River began as a gas station in the 1920s. Later, owners Ruby and Elliot Staten lived in the 9' by 15' office, entertaining many guests in that small space. During smelt runs the area was inundated with people vying for their share of smelt in the river.

Images

1980's Rental

1948 Flood at the Sandy River Bridge and Staten's Cabins

Water, Tree, Fluvial landforms of streams, Bank

Sugarpine Drive-In, est. 2018

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The opening of the Columbia River Highway, which eventually continued to The Dalles, brought auto traffic to Troutdale and gas stations were bustling. This station, built in the 1920s, included a string of tourist cabins along the Sandy River and was operated by Ruby and Elliott Staten from 1938 to 1964. The cabins were rebuilt after the 1948 flood, but did not survive the 1964 flood. This small gas station survived both floods.

In the beginning, the gas station also offered a small grocery store and sold jams and jellies to the tourists. During this time the Statens lived in one of the cabins. They eventually moved into the gas station building and occupied both levels as their home.

In the 1980s the building served as a rental home. A restoration was done in the 1990s and then again in 2007 serving the community as a snack and tackle shop, and more recently as a drive-in restaurant.

Sources

Nesbit, Sharon. It Could Have Been Carpdale. Pediment Publishing, 2007.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Troutdale Historical Society

Additional Information

Troutdale Historical Society