Oregon Coast Guide: X Marks the Spot for History Buffs
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Stay
CANNERY PIER HOTEL
cannerypierhotel.com; from $189
Built on the original pilings of the Union Fish Cannery (established in 1897), this lavish hotel marries turn-of-the century charm with modern comfort. Historic photographs festoon the lobby walls while floor-to-ceiling windows practically put you in the Columbia River and on the passing freighters. Come evening, local historians, bar pilots, and prominent Astorians regale guests with tales from the city’s industrial past.
THE PILOT HOUSE
astoriapilothouse.com; from $495
The three-bedroom Pilot House sits on Astoria’s Pier 14 and blends luxury with grit. The 107-year-old pier still houses a working pilot station that’s on the National Register of Historic Places, where river pilots wait to guide passing ships through the Columbia’s treacherous shallows. Luxe amenities include jetted tubs and a gourmet kitchen. And surrounded by water on three sides, the Pilot House remains a spellbinding post to enjoy the stormy river.
Eat
BLUE SCORCHER BAKERY & CAFÉ
bluescorcher.com
Hip, bright, and erected next to the site of the original Fort of Astoria, Blue Scorcher serves toothsome pastries, breads, and cakes using vegetarian and local ingredients. Don’t miss the freshly baked cinnamon rolls or the famous house-spiced chai. Or, if your Fort Stevens hike has left you famished, try the French toast, made from inch-thick slabs of challah bread and doused with syrup and seasonal-fruit jam.
Image: Mary Saunders
COLUMBIAN CAFÉ
columbianvoodoo.com
The white-bearded, endearingly surly owner Uriah Hulsey has been running this eccentric lunch counter for 31 years, creating a can’t-miss Astorian destination with his unexpected mix of fresh crêpes, just-off-the-boat seafood, and shockingly spicy vegetarian fare.
BOWPICKER FISH & CHIPS
bowpicker.com
Arguably the best fish and chips this side of the Thames, Astoria’s only food cart, located directly across from the Columbia River Maritime Museum, serves up steaming heaps of beer-battered albacore tuna and steak-cut fries from a converted gillnet boat.
Do
COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM
crmm.org
Astoria turns 200 this year, and for anyone who wants to understand the city’s deep connection with the cold waters at its edge, this museum is a must-do. Here, the ocean’s timeless danger and romance are juxtaposed against the radical evolution of seafaring technology since the 19th century. Beautifully crafted exhibits drop you in the middle of the aquatic action, including creaky, deep-sea fishing vessels, giant commercial tankers, and a dramatic Coast Guard rescue.
Wreck of the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens State Park
Image: Fort Stevens
FORT STEVENS
oregonstateparks.org
From the 19th century through World War II, the Columbia River’s deep reach into the country’s interior made it a no-brainer target for potential invaders. As such, the waterway was heavily fortified and vigorously defended from Fort Stevens. Now a serene 4,200-acre park, this erstwhile stronghold guarding the mouth of the river is still littered with barracks, bunkers, and gun batteries, all evidence of its martial past.
OREGON FILM MUSEUM
oregonfilmmuseum.org
The city’s history may stretch back for centuries, but in some circles Astoria’s biggest claim to fame is serving as the setting for The Goonies. Housed in the jail used in the film’s opening scene, this museum is an altar for Gooniephiles, with props, original scripts, and memorabilia. Some of the city’s other cinematic achievements, such as Kindergarten Cop and Free Willy, are also chronicled here.
ASTORIA COLUMN
Standing high on a hill overlooking the city, this colorful, 125-foot column was erected in 1926 to commemorate the history of westward expansion. It’s adorned with 14 murals depicting great moments in pioneer history, such as the discovery of the Columbia River in 1792. Climb to the top of the column’s winding steel staircase for breathtaking views of the river and the town below, and a prime spot for your own modern-day reflections.
Tales of the Tide
Legends and lore from the Oregon coast
THE COLUMBIA RIVER has its own version of the Loch Ness monster: Colossal Claude. First sighted in 1934 by the Columbia River Lightship crew, Claude was originally described as 40 feet long with “a mean-looking tail” and a snaky head. Subsequent reports described him as having the head of a horse or camel. Claude seemed to go AWOL in the 1950s, but in 1963 a Shell Oil Company underwater camera captured a 15-foot ridge-backed creature swimming 180 feet underwater just off the coast. No official determination naming the animal was ever made.
THE WEATHER was calm and clear that October day in 1913, as the merchant ship Glenneslin approached the central Oregon shore. A few hours later, however, the ship suddenly wrecked on the rocky shoreline five miles north of the Nehalem. The cause remains a mystery. The ship’s cargo, perhaps, renders a clue: the three-masted British schooner was toting a boatful of rum.
THE OREGON COAST has plenty of ghosts, but perhaps none so friendly (and helpful) as Rue, the apparition at Heceta Head Lighthouse. Rue lived at the lighthouse in the 1890s with her husband and their young daughter, but she committed suicide after her daughter drowned. Rue’s ghost, however, is more Casper than Krueger: after a workman broke an attic window in 1970 and refused to stay to clean it up (for fear of seeing Rue), the resident lighthouse keepers heard scraping noises upstairs. Upon investigation, they found the broken glass swept neatly into a pile.
Historical Treasures
North to South
OLD WHEELER ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES
(Wheeler)
395 Hwy 101 N; 503-368-3406
For those who delight in a treasure hunt, Old Wheeler is an embarrassment of riches. Beyond the usual mix of plush fainting chairs, shapely lamps, and nautical ephemera, each of the 10 rooms indicates the sharp eye of the store’s proprietors: items are arranged in whimsical displays, and the vast array of cookware, art, old postcards, and knickknacks leaves you with a deeper understanding of coastal Oregonians. —Alex Berke
OREGON COAST SCENIC RAILROAD
(Garibaldi)
ocsr.net
Big rail projects might seem like pie-in-the-sky political pork these days, but railroads used to be the civilized means of traveling between cities. Grab your lunch and take a ride on a steam-powered locomotive as it chugs between Garibaldi on Tillamook Bay and the seaside Rockaway Beach. A round trip takes only an hour and a half total—and will leave you wishing you could still go everywhere by train.
TILLAMOOK AIR MUSEUM
(Tillamook)
tillamookair.com
One of the world’s largest wooden structures, this seven-acre hangar was built in 1943 to house the US military’s growing fleet of blimps. Today it holds more than 20 historical aircraft, from a 1940s era Messerschmitt fighter to the only remaining functioning 1938 Bellanca Aircruiser.
Image: PHOTO’NEIL
OREGON COAST HISTORY CENTER
(Newport)
oregoncoast.history.museum
It’s hard to imagine Newport as anything but a bustling tourist town. But the Center’s two museums reveal a completely different city, one of tragic shipwrecks, hard-drinking sailors, and hardscrabble survival. The Burrows House—a beautifully restored 1895 Queen Anne mansion—contains an impressive photographic collection from the city’s blustery past, while the Log Cabin Museum hosts a changing display of some of the center’s best pioneer artifacts.
PIONEER HILL TRAIL
(Mapleton)
fs.usda.gov/wps
This trail was once part of a treacherous wagon road from Eugene to the coast—one filled with precarious switchbacks and deadly cliffs. Today the easy, forested near mile-long loop is somewhat safer but is lined with interpretative panels highlighting the road’s dangerous past, from bridge collapses to crashing Model-Ts.
MILTON H. GREENE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION
(Florence)
archiveimages.com By appointment only
Legendary celebrity photographer Milton Greene snapped thousands of pictures of his friend Marilyn Monroe before her passing. Now his son Joshua curates a private collection of his dad’s best shots of Norma Jean (and other icons like Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant) that’s open to collectors interested in purchasing prints.
CAPE BLANCO LIGHTHOUSE
(Port Orford)
oregonstateparks.org
The granddaddy of Oregon’s 11 lighthouses, Cape Blanco is not only the oldest at 139—it’s also the most westerly, as well as, arguably, the most equitable (Blanco employed the first woman lighthouse keeper in Oregon in 1903 ) and, at 256 feet above the sea, the highest in the state. Thrusting up from a wide, windswept plain above a rocky cove, Blanco also delivers a damn fine perspective on the Pacific.
