Astoria

Astoria was founded in 1811 by the Pacific Fur Company, a venture bankrolled by New York investor John Jacob Astor, and named for him. The fort the traders built here made this a U.S. outpost rather than a British one at a moment when that distinction was still being fought over, and the city was incorporated in 1856. According to the City of Astoria’s own history page, Astoria is the “oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains” — the city’s description of itself, not a certified record.

The town nearly burned itself out of that history twice. Fires tore through downtown in 1883 and again in 1922, and both times the damage spread fast because the buildings were wood, built on pilings over marshy ground. During the 1922 fire, “frantic citizens resorted to dynamite, blowing up entire buildings to create fire stops.” What got rebuilt afterward is the brick-and-timber downtown you walk through today.

Astoria's other export is film credits. Besides The Goonies (1985), Kindergarten Cop, both Free Willy movies, Short Circuit, The Black Stallion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Into the Wild and Green Room all used the town as a stand-in for somewhere else. Locals mostly shrug about it; the gray skies and the working waterfront read as authentic on camera precisely because they are.

The Astoria Column is 125 feet tall, sits on top of 600-foot Coxcomb Hill, and does not look like anything else on this stretch of coast. It went up in 1926, paid for by the Great Northern Railway and Vincent Astor — John Jacob Astor's great-grandson — to mark the family's place in the town's history, and the entire outside is wrapped in a sgraffito frieze, nearly seven feet wide and 525 feet around, painted by Attilio Pusterla and depicting 14 major events in early Oregon history plus 18 more regional scenes. A 164-step spiral staircase runs up the inside to an open-air observation deck at the top.

*Fees subject to change, please check astoriacolumn.org for updated information.

Fort George Brewery took over the old Lovell Auto Co. car dealership on Duane Street and has been pouring beer there for close to two decades; the flagship Vortex IPA is pushing 19 years on tap. It's at 1483 Duane Street, open daily from 11 a.m.

On Sundays from Mother's Day through mid-October, downtown's 12th Street closes for the Astoria Sunday Market, up to 150 vendors selling what they grew, caught or made, plus a food court and rotating live music from 10 to 3.

6 breweries within 10 miles of Astoria, one of them a brewpub with a kitchen.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

No pro, minor-league or college team based in Astoria could be confirmed. Portland is about 71 miles south-east of Astoria in a straight line, and Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington, about 41 miles east, lists baseball, basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball teams on its athletics page; check a team’s own schedule before planning around a game. On the water, the Port of Astoria’s own site says its three deep-draft terminals serve vessels “from fishing fleets to cruise ships.”

6 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Astoria in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.

• PortlandOregonabout 70 mi
• OlympiaWashingtonabout 75 mi
• SalemOregonabout 95 mi
• SeattleWashingtonabout 120 mi
• Space NeedleWashingtonabout 120 mi
• LeavenworthWashingtonabout 180 mi

Budget one full day for Astoria itself — the Column, Flavel House, Film Museum and the waterfront — and a second if you're adding Fort Stevens or Fort Clatsop without rushing.

Pack for rain regardless of the forecast. Astoria averages about 67 inches of rain a year and stays above 80% humidity on average every month; summer is the dry exception, not the rule.

The Astoria–Megler Bridge crossing into Washington runs 4.1 miles with nowhere to pull over, so decide before you're on it; it replaced a ferry that ran from 1921 until the bridge opened in 1966.

Parking at the Column is separate from downtown. The Column’s own site says visiting the park and climbing the Column are free and that parking is $10^* per vehicle, good for one year. For downtown, the City of Astoria publishes a Downtown Parking District map whose legend lists time-limited zones, and the Port of Astoria charges for parking at its East and West Mooring Basins. Current downtown street-parking rules could not be confirmed, so read the posted signs on the block.

*Fees subject to change, please check astoriacolumn.org for updated information.

Astoria Column

Address

1 Coxcomb Drive, Astoria, OR 97103

Hours

Park open daily, 5 a.m.–10 p.m.; gift shop hours vary by season

Price

Climb is free; parking pass is $10 per vehicle, valid one year^*

Link

astoriacolumn.org

*Fees subject to change, please check astoriacolumn.org for updated information.

We checked fees and operating status on 2026-09-21. These change without notice — confirm with astoriacolumn.org, portofastoria.com, lowercolumbia.edu and astoria.gov the week you travel.

Straight-line distance from Astoria, not drive time.

• Astoria Regional (AST) — 3 miles
• Southwest Washington Regional (KLS) — 45 miles
• Bowerman (HQM) — 54 miles