Astoria (Oregon)

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Astoria
View from the Astoria Column to the mouth of the Columbia River
View from the Astoria Column to the mouth of the Columbia River
Location in county and state
Clatsop County Oregon Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Astoria Highlighted.svg
Basic data
Foundation : 1811
State : United States
State : Oregon
County : Clatsop County
Coordinates : 46 ° 11 ′  N , 123 ° 49 ′  W Coordinates: 46 ° 11 ′  N , 123 ° 49 ′  W
Time zone : Pacific ( UTC − 8 / −7 )
Residents : 9,970 (as of: 2006 estimate)
Population density : 627 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 27.5 km 2  (approx. 11 mi 2 ) of
which 15.9 km 2  (approx. 6 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 7 m
Postal code : 97103
FIPS : 41-03150
GNIS ID : 1117076
Website : www.astoria.or.us
Mayor : Arline LaMear
Presumed appearance of Fort Astoria around 1811 (illustration around 1903)
Astoria, founded in 1811 by John Jacob Astor as a trading office

Astoria is a small, county, and port town in Clatsop County in the US state of Oregon with 9,970 residents (2006 estimate).

It is located on the Columbia River , which flows into the Pacific Ocean here . Astoria was named after the merchant John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), who among other things ran a flourishing fur trade here in the 19th century.

geography

The city has an area of ​​27.5 km². 15.9 km² of this is land mass and 11.6 km² is covered by water. The water surface is 42.18%.

history

The participants of the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter of 1805/06 at Fort Clatsop . The expedition participants expected that a ship would pick them up there in order to get to the east coast. The replica of the fort, built in 1955, burnt down on October 3, 2005 and rebuilt, is now a national monument .

In 1811, John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company established Fort Astoria as their trading post for the Pacific Northwest . This represented the first permanent US settlement on the Pacific coast. The settlement was important for the further settlement of the west coast. The US lost the fort to Great Britain in a war in 1813 . The handover takes place on October 23, 1813. When the American flag was on 22/23. It was replaced by the British colors on December 31 , 1813, and Captain William Black, commandant of the British corvette Rancoon , renamed the fort Fort George . The US efforts to get it back after the peace agreement failed. In 1818 the fort was returned to the USA, but was known as Fort George until around 1836. In the mid-1840s, there was a heavy influx as part of the Oregon Trail . In 1847 the first US post office west of the Rocky Mountains was opened in Astoria. The first US customs office followed in 1849. With the settlement of the Oregon area, Astoria developed into a major inland and sea port. In 1856 the place was given city rights; In 1870 Astoria had 639 and the district 1255 inhabitants. In 1873 Astorias was elected first mayor with WF Kippen. In 1900 Astoria was Oregon's second largest city with 8,371 residents. Above all, it also attracted Scandinavian settlers, many of whom still live here. Above all, however, Chinese "guest workers" came to the city for the canning factories, which around 1880 made up a third of the population. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned further immigration for ten years. The Chinese Exclusion Act was extended for a further ten years in 1892 and indefinitely in 1902 and was not repealed until 1943.

In 1883 and 1922 the city center was destroyed by large fires. However, the economy was strong enough to keep building it up. This was due to the fact that a network of bridges was created since the 1920s, which goes back to the bridge builder Conde McCullough (1887-1946). These bridges were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Cullough led the bridge construction from 1919 to 1935 and from 1937 to 1946. During those years was from the Roosevelt Military Highway of US Highway 101 . In 1962, construction began on the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia, inaugurated in 1966 , which was paid for through tolls until 1993. In 1898 the first Portland passenger train reached Astoria; In 1952, passenger trains to Clatsop County were abandoned. Astoria is still a major seaport for the Pacific Northwest and is also important as an inland port for the Columbia River.

The economy is mainly based on fishing, fish processing and timber management. In 1945 there were 30 canning factories in the area, an industry that came to a standstill in 1980. The wood industry was well represented until 1996. One of these companies, Astoria Plywood Mill , has long been the city's top employer. Today tourism, lighting technology production and the maritime and port economy predominate; cruise ships in particular often dock here.

In Astoria u. a. the films The Goonies , Number 5 Lives! , Kindergarten Cop , Free Willy , Free Willy 2 , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and The Ring 2 .

politics

mayor

Mayor is Arline LaMear

Town twinning

GermanyGermany Walldorf (Baden) , since 1963

Demographic data

There are 4,235 households in which 28.8% of children under 18 live. 43.5% of the population is married and lives together. The average household consists of 2.26 people. The average family size is 2.93. The urban population is made up as follows: 24.0% are under 18 years old, 9.1% are 18 to 24 years old, 26.4% are 25 to 44 years old, 24.5% are 45 to 64 years old and 15.9% are 65 years of age or older. The average age is 38 years. The per capita income is $ 18,759. 91.08% of the population is white.

Astoria is home to the College Clatsop Community College .

Attractions

The Astoria column from 1926, the symbol of the city

The main attraction next to the historical buildings in the city center is the Astoria Column , which was built in 1926 in memory of the western expansion of the USA by Vincent Astor and the Great Northern Railroad . The 38 meter high column on the 180 meter high Coxcomp Hill offers a 360-degree panorama over the mouth of the Columbia River. From the outside it was painted with a spiral frieze by Attilio Pusterla with 14 scenes on the history of Astoria based on the model of the Trajan Column . The column was restored in 1995. On May 18, 1987, the square around the Astoria column was christened the Criegee Circle in honor of Jürgen Criegee, mayor of Astoria's only twin town Walldorf and Astoria's honorary mayor .

The National Park Service has two National Historic Landmarks for Astoria (as of December 2016): the Fort Astoria Site and the Lightship Columbia . A total of 46 structures and sites are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (as of January 4, 2019).

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

People who have worked in the city

  • Albin Walter Norblad (1881–1960), Swedish-American politician, Governor of Oregon; lived and died in Astoria
  • Kaarlo Koskelo (1888–1953), Finnish wrestler; emigrated to the USA and died in Astoria

literature

  • Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History . The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, PA 2007, ISBN 978-0-9770429-6-8 .

Web links

Commons : Astoria, Oregon  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History, pp. 195 + 196.
  2. ^ Herbert C. Ebeling: Johann Jakob Astor. A picture of life . Astor Foundation, Walldorf 1998, ISBN 3-00-003749-7 , p. 309 .
  3. ↑ Alexander Emmerich: John Jacob Astor. The most successful German emigrant . Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8062-2265-4 , p. 85 .
  4. ^ Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History, pp. 187 + 188.
  5. ^ Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History , 189
  6. ^ Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History , p. 191.
  7. ^ Herbert C. Ebeling: Johann Jakob Astor. A picture of life . Astor Foundation, Walldorf 1998, ISBN 3-00-003749-7 , p. 310 .
  8. ↑ Today's Chinese Heritage Park tries to honor the significant role the Chinese played in the development of the city. It is located in the former area of ​​Chinatown, around 9th and Astor Streets.
  9. ^ Karen L. Leedom: Astoria - An Oregon History , pp. 192, 195.
  10. ↑ Arline LaMear: Mayor in: City of Astoria, accessed October 2, 2017
  11. ↑ struckturae: Astoria Column. Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
  12. ^ Herbert C. Ebeling: Johann Jakob Astor. A picture of life . Astor Foundation, Walldorf 1998, ISBN 3-00-003749-7 , p. 311 .
  13. ↑ List of NHL by State . National Park Service , accessed January 4, 2019.
  14. ↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed January 4, 2019.