At the apex of Coxcomb Hill, the mural-wrapped Astoria Column traces the area’s evolution, from Capt Robert Gray’s 1792 discovery of the Columbia River (named for his ship, the Columbia Rediviva) to the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the railroad’s arrival in the late 1800s.
At the Columbia River Maritime Museum, vivid exhibits paint a cycle of risk and reward. The river’s violent collision with the ocean spins a constant tale of destruction and death, some 2,000 vessels and 700 lives later, it’s known as ‘the graveyard of the Pacific.’
A reminder of the long-gone Astoria trading post survives in a green-paint street outline. A monument stands there, but the city’s economy has moved along: thriving bakery/café, commerce’s turn toward tourism.
Brightly painted Victorian homes beckon from the hillsides. Downtown, a bit of Americana lives on in the form of spice shops, a butcher shop, bookstores and Gimre’s Shoes, which opened in 1892 and is believed to be the oldest family-run shoe store in the West. Parks, beach and the waterfront are eminently explorable on foot or bike.
Back in the early 1800s, after Lewis and Clark wintered near here, a German immigrant named John Jacob Astor envisioned this confluence of the Columbia and the Pacific as the hub of an international trading empire. From his home in New York, Astor accrued a fortune in real estate and trading animal furs and soft gold. But his dream for the city that ultimately bore his name was never realised, in large part because of bad timing: War broke out in 1812 between England and the fledgling United States, a year after Astoria’s founding.
Later, the region’s economy grew reliant upon timber and fisheries. Astoria, which once proudly called itself the ‘Salmon Canning Capital of the World,’ fell on hard times in the late 20th century as fishing runs dried up, consumer habits changed and canneries closed.
Dick Garner, sitting behind the wheel of a 1954 Mercury Monterey, squired my wife and me around town one night in June, pointing out where Astor’s first ship that came here, the Tonquin, probably moored. Where, much later, the Scandinavian fishing workers settled. And the plant that Bumble Bee Seafoods shuttered in 1980.
“When I first moved here in 1965, Astoria was a community that people drove through on the way to somewhere else,” Garner said. “Until the mid-’80s or early ‘90s’, the economy was pretty much fishing, canning or logging. We needed something else.”
Investment in the future
Twice in its history, in 1883 and 1922, much of Astoria burned to the ground. Each time the city rallied and rebuilt, just as it later did to create a new tourism-based economy.
Over the past 35 years, the Port of Astoria has spent more than $10 million in pier improvements to attract and retain cruise ships. In 2018, 25 vessels are expected to bring more than 44,000 visitors.
Since 1998, the community has raised roughly $9 million to restore the 1920s-era Liberty Theatre, now home to concerts, plays, public forums and much more.
One of the area’s biggest tourist draws, Fort Clatsop, is itself a product of rebuilding and community co-operation. This was the site where Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party endured a wet, hostile winter in 1805-06.
A replica of the original log structure burned in 2005. Fourteen months later, thanks to the work of hundreds of volunteers, a newly constructed fort reopened.
Barges and gliders
We interspersed our history lessons with a leisurely walk through downtown and its shops. We savoured a memorable dinner at a newer entrant downtown, Carruthers Restaurant. We biked along the waterfront, under the studious gaze of a bald eagle perched on a power pole.
We watched from our balcony at the Cannery Pier hotel as giant barges drifted by on the Columbia, packed with wheat bound for Asia. We meandered through three-plus blocks of street vendors hawking produce, crafts and more at the Astoria Sunday Market.
And we did what we always do when we visit Astoria indeed, what practically everyone does. We drove to the top of Coxcomb Hill and plopped down a dollar each for a balsa-wood glider at the Astoria Column gift shop.
We climbed the circular staircase to the column’s observation deck and launched our gliders into the wind. They carved circles in the air, casting swift shadows on the history enshrined on the column itself.
If you go
Where to stay: Opened in 2005 on the onetime site of a fish cannery, the Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa embraces its past with historic photos throughout. All of the well-appointed rooms have balconies and gas fireplaces, and they come equipped with binoculars, so you can scrutinise ship traffic passing right outside on the Columbia River.
Where to eat:
Blue Scorcher Bakery & Cafe is cosy, friendly and full of baked goodness, such as Huevos Scorcheros (two eggs over rice, beans and cheddar cheese, plus salsa and more), or French toast topped with fresh berry compote and whipped cream
Carruthers Restaurant serves modern American fare and inventive cocktails in a hip downtown setting. The jumbo prawn cocktail is astoundingly good, as are the braised short ribs with polenta. Desserts (example: a berry, peach and apple crisp) are close-your-eyes amazing.
Casual yet aiming high, Bridgewater Bistro is just a brief walk from Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa. The Mayan salad (roasted beets and yams, quinoa and more) is a riot of colour and flavour, and cod fish ‘n’ chips are moist and tender.
What to do:
Columbia River Maritime Museum is unparalleled in Oregon for its interactive, comprehensive exhibits, the fishing industry and civilian and military shipping. Admission includes a visit to the historic lightship Columbia, moored riverside, which served as a floating lighthouse until 1979.
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park’s crown jewel is the replica of Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in 1805-06. In summer months, park rangers in period dress conduct camps and programmes and guide canoe and kayak tours. Fort Stevens State Park has been converted to a 4,300-acre park with nine miles of paved cycling trails and a broad beach that includes the wreckage of the Peter Iredale, a British bark that ran aground here in 1906.
A climb up, the circular staircase of Astoria Column’s 125-foot-tall tower yields sweeping views of the Columbia River, but first buy a balsa-wood plane in the gift shop so you can launch it into the breeze from the observation deck.
Flavel House Museum was home to George Flavel, a Columbia River Bar pilot, and his family from 1886 to 1893. This Queen Anne-style house (more a mansion at 11,600 square feet) boasts a magnificent library and other rooms decorated with period pieces from the 1800s some of them holdovers from the Flavel estate.
Heritage Museum, formerly city hall, now houses small but informative exhibits on John Jacob Astor and his expansion plans in the West, the timber and fishing industries.– Chicago Tribune/ TNS
