Hermit’s Way and Hermit’s Cave take their name from John Woodruff, who lived in the hillside above the Catholic Cemetery.
Photo courtesy Original Wasco County Courthouse
“John S. Woodruff: Hermit of the Cave” is the topic of the third program of the Original Wasco County Courthouse 2022 Regional History Forum. Georga Foster will present the program at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19. Due to COVID-19 precautions, programs will take place on Zoom as they did a year ago, and not at the historic 1859 Courthouse.
Access is free at OWCCZoomLink.info and those needing help getting Zoom on a computer or cell phone may leave a message at 541-296-4798. There is a limit of 100 participants. The host will open the Zoom meeting at 1:15 p.m., the presentation starts promptly at 1:30, and admission ends once the program begins.
Foster is president of the Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society and volunteers at the Discovery Center library. She has researched the life and times of John Woodruff, the hermit. Stories still circulate a century later about the man who lived as a recluse, yet welcomed people to his “castle” on the hill above W. 13th Street and Cherry Heights. Foster has come up with a different profile of the man who led a singular existence while leaving a mark on the history of our town.
The online presentation, just like in-person programs over the past 40 plus years, is free. But donations to the Original Courthouse are gladly accepted.
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