"... This is an historic spot in Oregon. For many decades, it was a popular picnic grounds for people living along the Columbia River between Portland and The Dalles. The railroad company maintained an 'eating house' at Bonneville, where tired travelers paid a modest sum for all they could eat. ..." [McArthur and McArthur, 2003]

Bonneville, Oregon, Bonneville Dam, and North Bonneville, Washington, were named after Captain (later Brig. General) Benjamin L.E. Bonneville, a West Point graduate who explored the west from 1832 to 1835, visiting many parts of Oregon.

The 1897 "Post Route Map of the State of Washington, showing Post Offices with the Intermediate Distances on Mail Routes in Operation on the 1st of September, 1897, published by order of Postmaster General James A. Gary" showed Bonneville as "Bonneville (n.o.)". "Not Official" perhaps ???. McArthur and McArthur (2003) write that the Bonneville Post Office didn't come into existence until March 1900.

The 1908 "Railroad Commission Map of Washington" showed Bonneville on the "Ore. R.R. & Nav." line, and the 1911 topographic map "Mount Hood and Vicinity" listed Bonneville and the Fish Hatchery at Bonneville. The Fish Hatchery was built in 1909.

"... Bonneville Dam was to be constructed 42 miles east of Portland and 144 miles upstream from the mouth of the Columbia. Work commenced in October, 1933 ... By June, 1934, the construction, carried out under the oversight of the Portland District, Corps of Engineers, had included excavation for the powerhouse foundation, relocation of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Company's main line (on the Washington shore), and commencement of construction on 20 permanent residences at Bonneville, Oregon. ... In the spring of 1935 the carpenters finished the residences at Bonneville, Oregon ... ..."

"... During World War II, Bonneville was the focus of concern as a target for attack or sabotage. During the war the Corps employees painted all of the buildings green, including the roofs. Even the gravel and blacktopped roadways were painted with camouflage. The Corps mounted concrete 'pill boxes' to flank the main entry road mid-way between the Auditorium and the railroad viaduct. Other concrete guard stations, with gun ports, were set up near the dam and powerhouse on Bradford Island. Additionally in 1942 the Corps experimented with smoke screening, filling the gorge with dense clouds of partially burned diesel fuel ejected from nozzles and from an open ditch on Bradford Island. None of these precautions was tested. The Bonneville Project emerged unmolested from the war. The green camouflage paint, however, is yet visible on the lower walls of the Auditorium and Administration Buildings. ..."

One of the WWII pillboxes can be seen at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center museum, in Stevenson, Washington.