Hood River

History

Hood River (originally called Dog River) post office was established (named by Mary Coe, who founded the city with her husband Nathaniel Coe) at the site of the present city on September 30, 1868, and the city itself was incorporated in 1895. Originally, the city was part of Wasco County, but it became the seat of Hood River County when the county was first established in 1908. The Hood River incident involved the removal of 16 Nisei servicemen's names from the county "roll of honor" in Hood River, Oregon, by the local American Legion Post 22. The incident, on November 29, 1944, was part of a string of anti-Japanese actions taken in an attempt to prevent removed Japanese Americans from returning to the area after their release from internment by the United States federal government. National outrage against the community heightened five weeks later when a local Japanese American serviceman died after completing a heroic mission in the Philippines. Under great pressure, the local American Legion post restored Nisei names to the wall of the county courthouse on April 29, 1945.

Geography

Hood River is at the confluence of the Hood River and the Columbia River in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. The city is about north of Mount Hood, the tallest peak in the state. It is across the Columbia River from White Salmon, Washington. South of the city is the Hood River Valley, known for its production of apples, pears, and cherries. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Located at the transition zone between wet temperate rainforest to the west, and dry shrub-steppe desert to the east, Hood River has a moderate climate with rainy winters and warm summers (Köppen: Csb), although rainfall is somewhat less than Portland and other nearby areas in the Willamette Valley. Hood River averages around of precipitation a year, while Cascade Locks, west, receives over , and The Dalles, east, less than . Actual precipitation has ranged from in the "rain year" from July 1976 to June 1977, up to between July 1915 and June 1916, while the most in one month has been in December 1996. Snowfall is moderate but heavier than west of the Cascades: the most in one season is between July 1979 and June 1980, of which fell in the record snowy January 1980. In contrast, no measurable snow fell between July 2002 and June 2003, and between July 2024 and June 2025. The area is known for its consistently high winds channeling down the Columbia River Gorge. Temperatures for the year as a whole are slightly cooler than in most other low-elevation towns in the region, especially at night because of air drainage off the surrounding mountains. On average, 21 afternoons reach , two afternoons reach or exceed , seven afternoons do not top freezing, and 79 mornings fall below freezing. The lowest temperature…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  6,061
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3,857
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,656
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,548
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,447
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,408
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,295
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,067

Most recent

• M 2.61 — 2026-07-31
  18 km NE of Amboy, Washington
• M 2.66 — 2024-08-30
  14 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
• M 3.48 — 2024-07-12
  20 km S of Morton, Washington
• M 2.5100000000000002 — 2024-03-26
  27 km S of Morton, Washington
• M 2.99 — 2024-01-05
  33 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
• M 2.7600000000000002 — 2023-10-05
  17 km SSE of White Swan, Washington