Samuel Hill
About Samuel Hill
Builder, Innovator, Traveler & Dreamer
Sam Hill (1857–1931), founder of the Maryhill Museum of Art, was one of the most colorful and influential figures in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s. He was a successful businessman, world traveler, builder of monuments, and early advocate of paved roads.
Hill commissioned the Maryhill Stonehenge Memorial to honor World War I dead from Klickitat County, Washington. The monument was dedicated in 1918—while the war was still rampant—and completed in 1929. He was also responsible for the construction of the Peace Arch in Blaine, Washington—recognizing the close ties between the United States and Canada. It was dedicated in 1921.
At Maryhill, Hill employed engineer Samuel C. Lancaster (1864–1941) and spent three years and $100,000 of his own money building experimental roads on the property—so that skeptics could see the type of highways for which he was advocating. His activism eventually prompted the creation of state highway departments in Washington and Oregon. He was also a force behind construction of the Historic Columbia River Highway and the Interstate Bridge between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.
The permanent Sam Hill exhibition at Maryhill Museum of Art includes some of Hill’s personal possessions, items acquired during his travels, and photos and mementos related to his favorite cause, the Good Roads Movement.
Sam Hill and the Columbia River Highway
Visit the museum’s Sam Hill Gallery to view black and white prints showing both construction photos of the highway and early scenic views of the Columbia River Gorge. Most of the images are drawn from Sam Hill’s personal photo collection, which is housed at Maryhill Museum of Art.
Unknown photographer, Unidentified man, Sam Hill, J.C. Potter and Amos Benson standing on the Columbia River Highway, c. 1915; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art.
Top: 1.Unknown photographer (American, active early 20th century), Mitchell Point Tunnel, c. 1915; Gift of Samuel Hill, Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art, 1938.1.234 2. Maryhill Loops road, c. 1930. One of Sam Hill’s Good Roads projects and the first paved road in Washington State. 3. Unknown photographer, Unidentified man, Sam Hill, J.C. Potter and Amos Benson standing on the Columbia River Highway, c. 1915; Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art.
Bottom: 1. Benjamin A. Gifford (American, 1859–1936), Vista House on Crown Point, c. 1918; Benjamin A. Gifford Collection, Org. Lot 982, Neg. No. Gi 8426, Oregon Historical Society Research Library, Portland 2. Albert H. Barnes (American, 1876–1920), Multnomah Falls and Highway Bridge,
c. 1916; Gift of Samuel Hill, Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art, 1938.1.216
View this exhibition online
Black and white photo prints showing both construction of the highway and early scenic views of the Columbia River Gorge. Most of the images are drawn from Sam Hill’s personal photo collection, which is housed at Maryhill Museum of Art.
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Sam Hill The Prince of Castle Nowhere by John E. Tuhy
This is the definitive biography of Sam Hill, enigmatic, eccentric millionaire, a compulsive doer and dreamer.
His unhappy family life, and later manic state, drove him to affairs with women and close to ruin. Now, the author has put together the pieces and sorted out the misinformation to bring to light the life of one of the most intriguing and remarkable but little-known men of the century. If Sam Hill had never existed, it would not have been necessary to invent him: in fact, it would have been next to impossible. By definition, a self-made man must learn on the job, and he does not necessarily get better at it as years go by.
The author John E, Tuhy, M.D., a native of Portland Oregon. Printed by Maverick Publications, Inc. Bend, Oregon.