|
Gates
to the Orchards
Photo from the Hazel Raymond Collection
courtesy of
Nez Perce County Historical Society
|
Preserving three, large, stone towers
and one smaller tower is a Modie Park Conservancy mission. The towers,
circa 1909, are what remains of two grand entrances to Lewiston-Sweetwater
Irrigation Company’s 9,000 acre, real estate development project, which
became the Lewiston Orchards. Originally, each gateway consisted of two,
twenty-foot tall, stone towers, one on each side of the road, connected to
a smaller six-foot tower by a stone wall. Thousands drive past two towers
daily at 1900 8th Street, near Osborn Vineyards. A single large
tower and a small tower, remnants of a lesser-known gateway, are located
at 10th Street and Gateway Drive.
The towers are laid almost entirely with Columbia
River Basalt in the “uncoursed rubble” style. They are approximately 7
feet square at the base and twenty feet tall. The poured cement capstone
is 5 foot square. In November 1994, vandals loosened crumbling mortar and
rolled rocks away from the tower creating large holes in the east and
north sides. Modie Park Conservancy volunteers stabilized the tower. More
restoration work is needed to insure that these monuments to Lewiston’s
early residents do not deteriorate.
Top of Page
|
