Capitol Highway

[KLR]

I was curious about the alignment, of any, of the old Capitol Highway, which currently is just a short thoroughfare in SW Portland.  Presumably it originally ran down to Salem, and indeed the wikipedia article on 99W states, without citing any reference, that

The first highway in the corridor was the Capitol Highway (Highway 3), from Portland to Salem via Dayton (roughly present OR 99W and OR 221). In 1927 it was merged with the West Side Highway, which ran from Dayton to Junction City, to form the West Side Pacific Highway, still numbered 3, and a western loop of the Pacific Highway (Highway 1/U.S. Route 99). (The former Capitol Highway south of Dayton was removed from the system, but was later taken over as the Salem-Dayton Highway.)

Surely such a grandly named arterial would warrant an appearance on some old maps, but about the earliest Oregon map showing any local trails is this 1911 JK Gill, which does show a nest of local roads south of Dayton, one of which roughly corresponds with modern OR 221 (the Salem-Dayton highway alluded to above).  It should be noted that this may be a very rough approximation, the map also shows a route leading directly north from Dundee straight over both the Red Hills and Chehalem Mountains, I doubt even a bird could follow such a trajectory...

As with every other map from this era this one focuses on rail lines, most notably the SP line that lead from Amity down to Rickreall.  Other maps in the Dave Ramsey collection from the 1870s even show this line as its build progressed, with its final layout noted in advance.  This route was later paralleled by OR 3 as may be seen on this 1927 Rand McNally map.  The unpaved road that later became OR 221 is shown as well.  This 1927 National Co. map shows more local routes as well.  Wikipedia states that 221 dates from 1933, and it may be seen on this 1939 Rand McNally, after OR 3 had became 99-W.

So what of the Capitol Highway?  The answer turned out to be in a few references from Google Books, most especially this very helpfully detailed bit from the 1919 Oregon Voter: Magazine of Citizenship--for Busy Men and Women:

NOW THEY WANT PAVING

We are not entertaining the spirit which causes Bolshevism in Russia by asking that our road be finished at once is the liberal tone in a memorial prepared by the West Side River Road Boosters of Unionvale on the Capitol Highway between Dayton and Salem But that the farmers of that vicinity are now very much in earnest in their demand for improvement of that highway is evident

Two years ago these same farmers were almost unanimous in voting against the $6,000,000 bond issue a circumstance that has risen since to plague them as by their votes they indicated that they didn't care whether any roads were paved in any part of Oregon But with the Capitol Highway completed between Portland and Newberg they have seen what a paved road means to an agricultural territory and now they want some of it

The Capitol Highway is the shortest and best natural route from Portland to Salem It passes through Newberg and Dayton and at Dayton enters one of the richest little valleys in Oregon a valley four miles wide and 22 miles long without any modern transportation facilities This valley is shut off on the west by the Yam hill Mountains and their continuation the Polk County hills a barrier from 400 to 1200 feet high On the east it is shut off by the Willamette River There is practically not one high hill the whole length of this little valley all the way from Dayton to Salem The land is highly productive the farmers progressive and the roads traversing its length are heavily traveled at all seasons of the year in spite of bad road conditions which occasionally prevail especially in winter As a transportation opportunity this valley is one of the best bets in Western Oregon An electric line along its length would be well patronized As it is the only outlet is via gravel roads which were fine in their day but their day is past The people of this valley now realize that a paved road is their salvation and they have gone out to get it

We believe that the public can best be served by utilizing the efficiency enterprise and energy of private corporations for the continued operation of public utilities under such public control as shall protect the public in its right to efficient service and fair rates and at the same time assure to private capital invested in public utilities a fair return upon such capital Merchants Association of New York City

"Yamhill Mountains" was an old name that was later changed to Eola Hills, for some reason.  Those local farmers must have been a bit chagrined that the state bypassed them initially, but they only had a short wait before getting their own paved route, which is one of my favorite roads to motor down on outings.

Edit:  oregonhighways.us states that Major H. L. Bowley, Oregon State Highway Engineer, proposed building 8 state highways including a "Capitol Highway" route in 1914 that ran through McMinnville, presumably much like the eventual 99-W route.  But the 1917 plan also shown on that page shows route #28/West Side Highway going through McMinnville, all the way out west to "Bellevue," whatever that is/was - the locale seems to correspond to Sheridan.  No route was ever build due south to Dallas/Independence like the map depicts.  What later became OR 22 is shown on the 1927 map linked above.