Oregon Coast Experience

The city of Astoria Oregon has many interesting facts. It has beautiful scenery and some unique sites to see. This may look like a quaint town with its victorian style houses and ocean views but there is a lot of history in this town.

There is a bridge called the Astoria Bridge that was completed in 1966. It goes across the US 101 over the Columbia River. Astoria is one of the oldest cities west of the Missouri River. It was named after a fur trader called John Jacob Astor in 1811 when he landed his vessel the Tonquin. He made the town known as a shipping point for Astor’s beaver and otter pelts from the Pacific Northwest. This claim gave the U.S. some sovereignty over the North Pacific realm.

A territorial argument happened during the War of 1812 and the town was temporarily named Fort George under British rule. It was returned to the U.S. in 1818. It became a major pioneer destination.

In 1866 many gold miners came to California and Oregon. They ate a lot of salmon and turned Astoria into Oregon’s second largest city. Astorians used small fishing boats and huge drift nets hauled ashore bu teams of horses. Chinook salmon were caught, processed and sold to diners worldwide. This changed after WWII because fishing, lumber and exports slowed down.

Tourism became popular soon after. Though Astoria gets a lot of rain it has many points of interest such as the Columbia River Maritime Museum, Flavel House which was built by Oregon’s first steamship captain. Another point of interest in the Astoria Column, a tall structure on top of Coxcomb Hill east of town. The tower is 125 feet high. there is also a 2 mile river walk and Astoria’s trolley that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This town is one of Oregon’s must be visited towns.