Astoria
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Population: 10,045
Class: Middle Class (primarily)
A small town in the northwest corner of Oregon along the coast, Astoria is an old fishing and fur-trading settlement on land that was originally occupied by the Clatsop tribe. Named for its first millionaire, John Jacob Astor, Astoria grew up around the fort founded by Astor's fur trading company in 1810. It also boasts a deep water port that sees very little shipping trade, though it still maintains a decent fishing industry. It is also a port of call for a number of cruise lines sailing up and down the West Coast. This port attracted a number of immigrants in the late Nineteenth Century, mainly Scandinavians (particularly Finns, who worked the fisheries) and Chinese (who found work in the canneries).
Many people refer to Astoria as "Little San Francisco," as the small town shares some similarities with the Golden Gate City: both are coastal, dominated by massive bridges, with touristy waterfront areas and boardwalks with impressive populations of sea lions, and are both well-known for their trolleys that run along that boardwalk. Both of them also feature hills overlooking the city, on which are built a variety of interesting and well-preserved Victorian-style homes.
Contents
Facts & Figures
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Astoria is a city of 10,000 people on the Columbia River, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean located in Clatsop County. It is surrounded by the beauty of the forest, mountains, 3 rivers and the sea. Because of its steep hills and beautiful Victorian homes, Astoria has been Called the “Little San Francisco of the Pacific Northwest.” Just across Youngs Bay is Warrenton, a city of 4,500, that encompasses Fort Stevens State Park and its broad, clean ocean beaches.
Astoria and Warrenton have a marine climate, which means the summers are cool, with highs around 70, and the winters are mild, with few nights of freezing temperatures. The area gets about 75 inches of rain per year, which accounts for its vivid greenness and crystal clear air. Winter storms can be dramatic with winds reaching 70 to 100 miles per hour on the ocean bluffs. The area has a strong Scandinavian heritage.
History
In May, 1792, American Captain Robert Gray sailed his 230-ton Columbia Rediviva between Point Adams in what is now Oregon and Cape Disappointment in what is now Washington to first enter the Columbia River. Ten years later, President Thomas Jefferson asked his personal secretary, Army Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead an expedition to the Pacific to find “...whether the Columbia, Oregen, Colorado, or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce”.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition left Pittsburgh August 31, 1803. The Corps of Discovery entered the Lower Columbia River in November of 1805 and stayed through March 1806. They “wintered over” at Fort Clatsop, where it rained all but 12 days, hunting, making moccasins and other clothing, trading with the Clatsop, Tillamook, and Chinook Indians, and working on their journals.
In 1811, five years after the departure of Lewis & Clark, John Jacob Astor, a New York financier, sent fur traders aboard the ship Tonquin to establish a trading post. They built Fort Astoria on a site now preserved as a monument in the downtown area.
Well over 200 major shipwrecks have occurred near the mouth of the Columbia River – known for a century as “The Graveyard of the Pacific.” One, the Peter Iredale of 1906, is still visible on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park. Native Americans lived in the area for an estimated 10,000 years before Captain Gray’s arrival.
Links of Interest
Old Town
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Link to Larger Map
Old Town Astoria is just what it sounds like - an area of town that was among the first settled. Old Town sees perhaps the greatest concentration of tourists, given its proximity to the boardwalk. Old Town is well-maintained and has a friendly vibe and somewhat of a youth-centric, counter-culture flavor to it.
Old Town is really the center of "celebrity Astoria," those parts of town use in movies and the like. It has a wonderful profusion of Victorian and Queen Anne houses five to ten blocks south of the river, on rising land that overlooks the boardwalks and commercial areas.
Between 2nd & 3rd (not shown on map)
- Columbia House Condos, a set of condos built out in the river on a set of pilings. Several stories tall and quite luxurious, these condos go for between $200,000 and $250,000.
Between 4th & 5th
- The Columbia Inn, a small busy motel in the middle of Old Town.
Between 6th & 7th
- The Hotel Regina has been shut down for about as long as anyone in Astoria can remember. It is a local edifice, with its carved wooden doors and boarded-up windows. Children in Old Town have told one another ghost stories about it for years, and despite its abandonment, no one has ever thought of proposing it be torn down - it is too much of a local landmark for that.
- Desdemona Club, a nightclub and bar, with one of the few live music venues in Old Town.
- Old Town Police Department, the police headquarters for Old Town.
Between 7th & 8th
- County Jail
- George Flavel House, a historical landmark, once owned by a river boat captain who became a millionaire. Now used as a museum.
Between 8th & 9th
- Bus & Trolley Stop, where the Historic Astoria Trolley makes its major stop; it also serves as Old Town's main Greyhound stop.
- Keepsake Tattoos, a piercing and tattooing parlor.
- Astoria Post Office
Between 9th & 10th
- Astoria Holdings, a sardine processing plant. One of the few fish canneries still in operation.
- Red's Beer & Wine, the local all-night liquor store.
Between 10th & 11th
- Sea Star, a combination Internet cafe and tanning salon.
- Astoria Library, the oldest library in Astoria.
Between 12th & 13th
- Wet Dog Cafe, a small greasy-spoon burger place and brew pub that seems a little too run-down to attract many tourists, but a favorite of the locals.
- Columbia Cafe & Voodoo Lounge
- Godfather Bookstore
- Lunar Boy Gallery
- Astoria City Hall
12th Street
On Sundays, from 10am to 3pm in the months between May and October, 12th Street is closed down and hosts a vendor marked with local produce, clothing, jewelry and handicrafts.
Area Stats
- Physical: Access +3, Safety +1. Old Town has plenty of navigable streets, broad sidewalks and a predictable street layout. Though it isn't overtly dangerous, the presence of a wide variety of partying tourists and the accumulation of most of the town's nightspots means that safety isn't always an assurance in Old Town (though it's rarely danger of any kind of true severity).
- Mental: Information +2, Awareness +1. Old Town is definitely part of the information age - many of the coffee shops, brew pubs and hotels maintain WiFi hotspots, and billboards and signage is clear and to the point here. Most people are used to strange faces here, and though they don't generally bother anyone, they do keep an eye out for the things that go on.
- Social: Prestige +1, Stability +3. Though it is considered a tourist trap, Old Town is still a nice place to live, and its locals watch out for one another.
- Sanctum Qualities: Up to Size 3. The buildings of Old Town are divided and sub-divided such that it's impossible to find a truly large Sanctum.
The Docks
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The industrial and shipping center for Astoria, the docks are fairly lively. Composed primarily of canneries, shipyards and warehouses, no one lives in the Docks area of town. There are a few bars and hotels in the area (including the Red Lion Inn with its view of the marina and the impressive Cannery Pier Hotel), as well as a few restaurants. The docks see as much tourist business as it does shipping business these days, and once or twice a year, cruise ships dock here for a day.
Area Stats
- Physical: Access +2, Safety -1. The docks feature plenty of roads, and ways in and out of the area, though everyone acknowledges that they can be dangerous, especially after dark.
- Mental: Information +0, Awareness -3. No one is interested in anyone else's business here, and everyone keeps to themselves.
- Social: Prestige -3, Stability -2. No one actually comes from the docks, and those who do are the few homeless Astoria has attracted. In the docks, it's basically every man for himself.
- Sanctum Qualities: Maximum Security 3. Though there are plenty of large buildings in the docks, the security of the area is fairly light. No one protects the area too stringently, and the resources just aren't available to do so in a Sanctum without drawing undue attention.
The Hills
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Most people who live in houses, but who can't afford the elitism of New Town live out in the Hills. Houses dot the hillsides in this area and provide a fantastic view of the ocean. These houses aren't always in the best of shape, however, and the residences here range from nice Victorians and Queen Annes that would be right at home in New Town, to crappy little ramshackle houses more reminiscent of a redneck backwater than a lovely coastal town.
Area Stats
- Physical: Access -1, Safety +0. Though the Hills are filled with winding roads and a confusing array of turnbacks and trails, it's not an overly dangerous part of town. Still, things do occasionally happen out here, though because it is a residential area without much to lure non-residents here, it is generally confined to trouble between those who live here.
- Mental: Information -1, Awareness +0. The Hills hold their secrets well; even long-time residents don't tend to know a whole lot about the area or the others here. Most people tend to keep to themselves, and don't worry about everyone else.
- Social: Prestige +0, Stability +0. Though there's no real glamor to living in these hills, neither is there any particular shame. Lots of people live up here, and it seems like there's a constant flux of residents, so most people tend to ignore one another.
- Sanctum Qualities: No limitations.
New Town
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The most gentrified area in Astoria, New Town is a place frequently filmed when a movie needs to depict a lush Pacific Northwest coastal town. Trendy businesses and restored Victorian houses dot the area, against a backdrop of green hills and ocean vistas.
Area Stats
- Physical: Access +1, Safety +1. New Town has decently maintained streets and one or two cab companies, but most people need cars or at least bicycles to get around effectively. It is moderately patrolled and people have some measure of protection, but not much happens here, so the police aren't too curious nor the citizenry too diligent about locking doors or maintaining security systems.
- Mental: Information +3, Awareness -1. Though the physical lay of the land doesn't have much in the way of open line of sight (too much foliage and hills for that), security cameras and a lassitude that leaves street lights or sidewalk lamps burnt out a little too long sometimes, it's a small town, and so everyone seems to know everything.
- Social: Prestige +2, Stability +3. New Town is where most of the gentrification in Astoria has occurred, and so the houses out here are more expensive. The people who live in this part of town know one another fairly well, too.
- Sanctum Qualities: Up to Size 3. There aren't many buildings larger than a sizeable Victorian in New Town.
Edges of Town
- 1: The Astoria Column, a 125-foot tall painted column with an observation deck on top that sits on a hill overlooking Astoria.
- 3: Clatsop Community College, a public two-year college that serves northwest Oregon and southeast Washington.
Nearby Areas
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- Astoria Regional Airport, a small municipal airport
- CGAS Astoria, a Coast Guard Air Station located at the Astoria Regional Airport
- Warrenton, a nearby town (pop. 4300)
- Other Small Towns
- All of the following have populations of less than 500, and many of only a few hundred
- Hammond, a small town absorbed by Warrenton.
- Navy Heights
- Tongue Point Village
- Youngs River & Bay
- Fern Hill
- Svensen
- Olney
- Lilleas & Estoos
- Clatsop Spit, a massive sand flat responsible for many shipwrecks.
- The Peter Iredale shipwreck
