The Ghost Town of Bradwood Oregon with Clifton and Brownsmead Oregon

The now ghost town of Bradwood was the location of the first commercial sawmill in Oregon in 1843 but did not become a town until July 15, 1930. The town was incorporated by the Bradley-Woodward Lumber Company owned by Fred Bradley and Walter A. Woodard and these two men built a logging railroad into the woods. Originally everyone, including the owners, lived in box cars stationed in the woods. But eventually a cook house, bunk house, company store and up to 24 homes were built here.

The old town of Bradwood is currently on private property so please get permission before you come here.

If you do get permission to come here the old road will lead you to the ghost town and it's a 0.4-mile hike in one-way. I love the old bridge that crosses Hunt Creek, but I would not drive across it because the boards are loose and rotting in spots.

The hike in is pretty flat and looks about the same for the whole hike until you get to the old town. This is where the old town use to sit. The buildings were mostly moved or deconstructed for their timber, and what little remained of the town was burned in 1984.

There is an old storage container here and I suspect it used to be an office. There are still some chairs and other items inside.

Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like inside.

At one time the town was a potential site for a Liquified Natural Gas terminal, but repeated delays in the permitting process forced Northern Star Natural Gas to suspend the project in May 2010. The above photo does show a Natural Energy Sign. Protests & bankruptcies however derailed that plan and today the site is unimproved with posted “No Trespassing” signs.

In 1985, this was the site of Oregon’s largest Marijuana smuggling ring. A ship full of drugs was docked here at an abandoned pier. Drug dealers from all over the country came to purchase the goods, and no one ever got caught.

Below is a picture of the old railroad tracks that use to haul lumber out of the area. The logging railroad that the Bradley-Woodard Co. used was not new, however. Construction of the original line, dates as far back as 1903, when the Man and Montgomery Logging Co. began constructing a logging railroad out of Clifton from the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad.

The old railroad stop sign.

Other than the storage container this was the only other building in the old ghost town.

So, heading back out and off to Clifton Oregon. I didn't have much luck in Clifton and the people here didn't seem very friendly and I couldn't get permission to go into any of the old buildings. To make matters worse, no one even came to the door to talk to me and everyone seemed to have a Ring camera and decided to talk to me through this. I did get one picture from the road and also the old railroad tracks that came from Bradwood. This is a picture of the old fishing cannery building.

From here it was off to Brownsmead Oregon. On my way there I did find some old building that I loved and took a bunch of pictures. The first one was called a net shed and seems to be a club for people who are protecting the salmon population in the area.

This 1928 net shed, dubbed “the warehouse” by Brownsmead locals, sits at a wide spot-on Gnat Creek.

Here is a picture from the old deck leading from the net shed out at Gnat Creek. This was a holding pond for one of the logging companies that worked the canyons of Brownsmead from 1890 through 1930.

Another abandoned building, I found.

Brownsmead Town Grange. This isn't a real ghost town, but they only have about 1,5oo people living there. The Grange plays host to the annual Corn Feed, the Rummage Sale, country dances, and whatever else the community requires. The hall is clean and, seemingly waiting to be filled by the next lively event.

The old railroad at one time came through this town also and here is a picture of the old train station.

This building use to be the local store and is now a private residence.

Overall, it was a fun day out exploring and seeing some of the buildings that time has passed bye. If you do decide to come here plan your trip in advance because cell service is nonexistent in a lot of these three locations. They are found about 30 miles east of Astoria Oregon on the Columbia River. Clifton and Bradwood are down the road at mile post 38 on route 30 in Oregon. You will come to Bradwood first and if you take the same road and go further up the road you will come to Clifton.