New Exhibit Opens at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum

Surveying and Road Building in the Pacific Northwest.

Photos courtesy: North Lincoln County Museum

(LINCOLN CITY) - With the exception of the perseverance and hard work of the early settlers, nothing has had a greater impact on the development of the Pacific Northwest more than road building.

An early photo of Pete Fiddler

On the Oregon coast roads allowed access to even the most remote areas. No one knows this more than Pete Fiddler, a surveyor and highway engineer for more than forty years on the Pacific coast.

Fidler’s territory covered the area from Astoria to Yachats to Junction City. “ It was a young man’s job but I did it even when I wasn’t so young anymore,” said Fiddler, now 71, but looking so fit he could probably still do the job today.

“The hardest part was cutting through the brush with a machete while carrying all your gear. It was that or working in the midst of heavy traffic as I did when I worked from Portland to Salem on Highway 5. You just had to ignore the fact that you were in a dangerous situation working with cars rushing past,” he explained.

Fidler said he always enjoyed the work, as hard as it was, “I loved the whole process, the planning and design of the highway, seeing how it could be done best and most economically, and even the construction. I knew I did a good job when there were few cost overruns during construction. I liked to keep the taxpayers in mind. The best part was seeing a road completed and knowing you had a hand in creating something lasting and important. There was a lot of satisfaction in that.”

Now retired, Fidler generously donated his collection of surveying tools and drafting instruments to the North Lincoln County Historical Museum. Since they were well cared for and considered the “Cadillac” of instruments when he bought them, they are still beautiful today.

The collection can be seen in a new exhibit at the museum titled: Surveying and Road Building in the Pacific Northwest. The exhibit opened on August 1st and will continue until February of next year.

The museum is located at 4907 SW HWY 101 in Lincoln City. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 PM.