| Crown Point State Scenic Corridor | |
| Photo Width: | 300 |
| Map: | USA Oregon |
| Location: | Multnomah County, Oregon |
| Nearest City: | Portland |
| Coordinates: | 45.5395°N -122.2442°W |
| Area Acre: | 306 |
| Established: | 1938 |
| Url: | http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=108 |
Crown Point (also known historically as Thor's Heights or Thor's Crown)[1] [2] is a basalt promontory on the Columbia River Gorge and an associated state park in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in eastern Multnomah County, approximately east of Portland. Crown Point is one of the scenic lookouts along the Historic Columbia River Highway, providing a panoramic view of part of the Columbia River. It stands 733feet above the river and is the remains of a lava flow that filled the ancestral channel of the Columbia River 14 to 17 million years ago.[3] [4] The Point was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971.[5]
See main article: article and Vista House. The 1918 Art Nouveau style Vista House is an observatory at Crown Point that also serves as a memorial to Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The site, on a rocky promontory, is 733feet above the Columbia River on the south side of the Columbia River Gorge. The building shows great sensitivity to its site in the Columbia River Gorge near Corbett,[6] and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Crown Point Viaduct, built in 1914, is a viaduct consisting of an elevated sidewalk supported by columns and a retaining wall which encircle the tight loop of roadway around Vista House (1918). The viaduct is a contributing structure in the National Historic Landmarked and National Register of Historic Places-listed Historic Columbia River Highway. Per the 2000 NHL nomination of the highway:
This 560disp=sqbrNaNdisp=sqbr spiral viaduct was constructed of reinforced concrete and runs for 225 degrees of a circle around Crown Point. It functions as a 7feet sidewalk and curb with a 4feet parapet wall on the outside of a 24disp=sqbrNaNdisp=sqbr roadway cut into the rock formation. A dry masonry retaining wall stabilizes the hillside above and below the viaduct and masonry parapet walls that ring Vista House.[7]