ASTORIA OREGON - Bicentennial 1811-2011

Astoria Bridge across Columbia River under construction, 1966

Commercial Street, 1920s

Liberty Theater opening day, 1925

Fifth and Commercial streets, 1908

Astoria Column 1928 dedication

Astoria's Bicentennial commences Thursday, May 19, to be followed by a year of celebratory events.

McAndrew Burns, executive director of the Clatsop County Historical Society, says, "The Astoria Bicentennial is much more than a small city's birthday party – it is the very shape of our nation. If not for Astoria, we'd probably be in Canada today! By sending a small group to establish a fur trading outpost here at the mouth of the Columbia River, John Jacob Astor made the first real U.S. claim to the Pacific Northwest. The British fur-trading companies arrived just a few months later. Oregon, Washington and Idaho would be in Canada."

A taste of the above-promised history adventure in store for Bicentennial participants may be had in the glimpses that follow of the face of Astoria over the last two centuries.

Prior to 1800

Before Astoria was even a gleam in founder John Jacob Astor's eye, the mouth of Columbia was home to thousands of Chinook Indians. For more than 10,000 years, they lived along the river's banks or on the beach.

They were excellent traders, which served them in good stead – at least initially. Chief Concomly of the Washington Chinooks and Chief Coboway of the Oregon Clatsops loom large in Astoria's history throughout this period. Their lives would be forever changed, though, in the late 1700s with the arrival of European explorers and traders.

The first explorer to successfully cross the Columbia River Bar was Capt. Robert Gray, in 1792. The Columbia was subsequently named after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. Shortly thereafter, in November 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's Corps of Discovery Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia. Burns reminds us, "It is important to remember the United States ended at the Rocky Mountains – this area was up for grabs. Lewis and Clark were just exploring – they never claimed this territory."

1800-1840

Lewis and Clark's maps and journals inspired others to come west. A race had begun among European nations to find the Northwest Passage – a route enabling ships to sail from the Pacific to the Atlantic without going around South America's treacherous Cape Horn. The trade implications of this were not lost on New Yorker John Jacob Astor. In 1810, he dispatched two expeditions to establish his Pacific Fur Trading Company's first fur-trading post – one to go by land and the other by sea. To say that great hardships were endured by both parties is an understatement.

What remained of the land-based expedition founded Fort Astoria in March 1811, which started it all. That's the date from whence all things Astorian come. With the War of 1812, however, Astoria became Fort George, part of the British Empire from 1813 to 1818. Regardless of who it belonged to, life at the post remained a struggle for decades. At times, only a single family remained or few bachelor employees of the trading company.

1840-1899

Astoria's development was a product of natural resources and its location. Huge stands of timber were logged. With salmon in plentiful supply, fishing and canning brought wealth to a small group of investors. These "Salmon Kings" thrived from the 1870s to the 1910s (the catch peaked in 1892). At one point, there were 36 canneries along the estuary.

However, all these lucrative natural resources – beaver, trees and salmon – were eventually depleted. The beaver trade ended in the late 1840s; logging and fishing expanded in the 1880s but had shrunk by 1900.

In Astoria, what was essentially a wetland became a downtown on stilts dotted with canneries and sawmills. It was no place for the faint of heart, either. Men and boys were in regular danger of being shanghaied. (Today, the Astor Street Opry Company's annual production of the tongue-in-cheek "Shanghaied in Astoria" attests to this fact). Brothels, gambling dens and other unsavory establishments must have made for a pretty seedy picture along the waterfront. At one point, The Oregonian called Astoria "the wickedest place on earth."

Historian Stephen Dow Beckham writes in the book "Eminent Astorians": "It was during this time that Capt. George Flavel dropped anchor in the city and established a lucrative bar-pilot service. He and his family built a landmark home in town (which is a museum now) and invested extensively in commercial properties."

Chinese immigrants worked in the canneries – nearly 3,400 by 1886. A second wave of immigrants – Finns and other Scandinavians – worked in the forests' logging camps and waterfront sawmills or took up fishing. In 1897, a large group of Finnish fisherman started a worker-owned cannery, calling themselves the Union Fishermen's Cooperative Packing Co. Their neighborhood is still known as "Uniontown" today.

1900-1929

Development in Astoria went up the hill as wealthy merchants sought property with views of the Columbia River. Many of their homes –mansions, really – still grace the hillside, home to current residents.

The Astoria Column that crowns Coxcomb Hill was commissioned by Vincent Astor, John Jacob's great-grandson. Italian artist Attilio Pusterla was hired to apply plaster images on the edifice visually depicting the area's history. It was finished in 1926 – a monumental piece of work standing 125 feet tall with a surface measuring more than 4,000 square feet.

This period has perhaps left the most indelible historic mark on the city, at least in a visual sense. According to Paulette McCoy, Astoria Bicentennial Celebration director, "The Clatsop County Historical Society has produced a film also called ‘An Adventure in History,' which showcases Astoria's past as well a the vibrant and charming Astoria of today with its Victorian homes, a real working waterfront and the iconic Astor Column."

1930-1949

When the Great Depression came, it lasted 10 long years. Times were grim in Astoria for many. A bright spot was the city's bona fide "movie palace," the Liberty Theater, which was built in 1929 – an acknowledged jewel of 1920s architecture. Inside, audiences could forget their troubles for a while and lose themselves in the swashbuckling of silent film heroes like Douglas Fairbanks Sr. or, a bit later, in the inspired insanity of the Marx Brothers. Says Rosemary Baker-Monaghan, executive director of the Liberty, "The legacy of a vibrant community is the many facets that make it unique and set it apart. Astoria is rich in history, culture and character. This year, we (the theater) are pleased to play a significant role in the Bicentennial celebration on all three levels."

In the '40s, the nation was preparing for war. For Astorians, the threat of attacks by Japanese submarines from across the Pacific was especially worrisome. One night in June 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced and shot shells at or near Fort Stevens. The fort commander didn't return fire, and the sub slipped silently away.

1950-2011

Bumble Bee Cannery, a major industry in the area with roots going back to 1899, used to give tours in the '50s and '60s. Eventually, the operation couldn't compete with fish processing in Alaska and closed down in 1980. The old cannery complex lives on as offices, retail space and more at Pier 39.

In these years, Astoria discovered new assets – its setting and heritage. Two of Astoria's earliest historic preservationists, Paul and Wilma Williamson, bought and painstakingly restored some of the old buildings, including the Hiram House between 12th & 14th streets on Franklin Avenue. Edith Henningsgard, Astoria's first and only woman mayor, spearheaded a movement to preserve the city's history, leading to renovation of the Astoria Column murals, the Liberty Theater, the Flavel House Museum and more. More recently, restoration of old hotels like the Commodore, Astor and Elliott signal a continuing commitment to preserving these historic resources for posterity.

Hollywood came to Astoria during this period, most notably with the movie "The Goonies." Filmed near the Flavel House, the old county jail, Ecola State Park (near Cannon Beach) among other locations, the film has acquired cult status and fans from around the world. Thousands of people come to town each year just to see where it was filmed.