In 1892, the mouth of the Columbia River was marked by Columbia River Lightship No. 50, the first lightship (think lighthouse on a ship!) on the U.S. west coast. In November, 1889, a serious storm forced her crew to ground the ship, but concerted efforts could not get her back to sea thereafter. Beginning in February on 1901 and finishing in June of that year, Portland contractors Allen & Roberts enacted a novel plan to place the ship on planks and rollers and move her 700 yards (about 4/10 of a mile) overland across the spit to where she could be relaunched. While the spectacle drew crowds from many miles away, it ultimately proved successful and after subsequent repairs the lightship was returned to her post in August of 1901.
The contractors, Allen & Roberts, created an album of 37 photographs of the process to give as gifts; MASC holds, so far as we can tell, the only copy known outside private holdings. This album can be viewed (print-only) in MASC as PC 128.
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