Drive-by Astoria #1: The Corner at 8th and Commercial

Astoria, Oregon ~ September 16, 2012

Yesterday was sunny and beautiful, and for a change I was a passenger with her camera out. Some of the shots I got were kind of fun. The perspective was different, the angles unpredictable, and the composition could either be nice or insane. When I looked at the photos, I realized this is how many of us see our town. As of today, I think I'll do a short series of "Drive-by Astoria" photos. It might also be fun for those who haven't been here for awhile to feel like they're really back for a visit.

Here we are coming up 8th Street from Marine Drive, turning left onto Commercial. Looking west you can see the post office steps on the right and the Clatsop County Courthouse on the left.

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Rain on Fall Leaves

Astoria, Oregon ~ November 15, 2011

Fall is not only in the air, it's also on the ground at the post office. Although this photo could be anywhere, for me it feels like Astoria - our own brand of damp leaves, the grass still living and green in November, and the pebbled wet sidewalks. . . .

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Red and "Blue"

Astoria, Oregon ~ June 13, 2011

Here's another shot of the purple (lavender?) rhododendron bush outside the post office. Yesterday's photo was the "art shot," today's photo shows the brilliant red flowers on the adjacent bush. I think the sceme is supposed to be vaguely red, white, and blue. The nearly-white rhodies at the other end of the building were falling apart as of yesterday, but here is my shot of them from last year. If I remember, the pink were still looking OK, but the white ones are about gone.

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Purple Rhodies at the Post Office

Astoria, Oregon ~ June 13, 2011

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Flowers in the Lawn

Astoria, Oregon ~ April 14, 2011

I found these colorful blossoms in the lawn in front of the post office in one of those rare moments between spring showers (or downpours).

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Purple Azaleas at the Post Office

Astoria, Oregon ~ March 18, 2011

Last year I posted this photo of the same bush in full flower on February 28th! I've been watching it this year, and the blossoms only came out in the last few days. I seem to remember that last year was filled with flowers and they were out early. This is just the beginning. Soon Astoria will be filled with flowers again.

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Winter Sky, Post Office

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 8, 2011

See more Weekend Reflections

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BIG Rig at the Post Office

December 13, 2010

At the end of each day, one of us stops by the back dock at the post office to deliver the bags of orders we've packed up that day. It must be due to the heavy volume of Christmas mail, but today the truck picking up looked enormous. I asked the driver how he could possibly make the turn onto 8th Street, because I really couldn't imagine it. He said it was tight, but it wasn't all that bad. (I really can't imagine how it's done.) The truck collects from a number of local-area post offices before heading pack to Portland. He said the bad stop was Seaside, where if there are any cars parked on either side of the street, it simply can't be done. I've forgotten what the Seaside post office dock looks like, but I believe him.

In 2009, I showed a photo of a truck hauling logs making the turn at the corner of 8th and Commercial. The truck you see here will have to turn right onto two-lane 8th Street, and immediately make the insane left turn onto two-lane Commercial. Before I knew the drill, I was once or twice one of those cars that had to back up so the truck could turn.

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Details of the Lamp Post

September 1, 2010

Several of you asked questions about the lamp post in front of the post office after yesterday's photo showed lines and shadows of the base. I found the parts more interesting than the sum, and I never took a photo showing the whole post. There is a lamp post on either side of the steps leading to the front doors, and the photos include both lamps.

It's not too clear, but the lamps are placed on a cement footing above ground level on either side of the staircase. The fencing in the foreground is the railing along the handicapped ramp.

. . . So, there you have it :) When I first looked at the three-legged base the other day, it reminded me of the triskelion seen everywhere in Sicily. The link will show some of the ways a triskelion is used, but when seen anthropomorphized as running legs (which is how we saw it so often in Sicily), it looks very strange.

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Lines and Claws

September 1, 2010

Patterns found in front of the post office on Commercial Street. Initially, I took the photo because I was trying to get a photo of the other-era three-footed lamp base, but the situation was wrong for details and right for shadows and patterns.

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Clatsop County Courthouse

July 13, 2010

The Clatsop Country Courthouse is directly across the street from the Astoria Post Office, and takes up the block bounded by Commercial Street, 8th Street, Duane Avenue, and 7th Street at the west end of downtown Astoria. I've shown the courthouse from several angles; this is the main front entrance. I've also shown the post office in many guises. Click on the keywords beneath to check out other posts featuring these buildings. Clatsop County is named after the Clatsop Indians.

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For Your Convenience . . .

Since I posted the first bike rack photo, I've noticed them all over town. They're painted different colors, but the shape is always the same. Most people seem to find them as convenient as the one here at the post office. One reader mentioned that they flop over in these racks. I think most users tie them up to the side for stability, taking all three spaces.

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Gone with the Rain

May 26, 2010

I promised to show the big rhododendron bushes at the east front corner of the post office, and here they are before rain, wind, and time got the better of them.

They were beautiful, but they're basically gone now.

We'll have to remember the rhodies until next year. There are still a few left, and there are many other lovely flowers around town. However, I think the main flowering of the gorgeous local rhododendrons has finished for the year - and it's certainly been an amzaingly colorful and profuse year for them.

I'll keep my eyes open for more flower shots because they've been a lot of fun. But at least today we're expecting more rain.

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Adventures on 8th Street

April 10, 2010

I hope we get some interesting comments from locals and visitors about 8th Street. Eighth Street is one of my favorites. It's fun for walking, and I feel like I've accomplished something when I get to the top. Every few steps, it's fun to turn around and look at the view. And no, the hill doesn't stop where it looks like it stops, you simply can't see any further up the slope from here. It's fun driving 8th Street, too. At about the point where the road disappears in this photo, it feels like you've gone airborne. No wonder the sign at Franklin and 8th says, "No Trucks, No Trailers, No Buses."

Looking back down 8th Street from somewhere near Franklin. That's the Flavel House behind the power poles. Since this is Goonies Week (25th anniversary of the movie), I'll note that the Goonies' Jail is behind the Flavel House (out of view). You can see the corners of the Clatsop County Courthouse and the Astoria Post Office.

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Red, White, and Blue?

May 26, 2010

The violet rhodies at the southwest corner of the Astoria Post Office are almost in full bloom. As you can see, the red ones in front have about disappeared. I've been musing on the fact that the scheme at the post office seems to be vaguely red, white, and blue, with violet covering for blue. There are at least six or seven bushes around the front of the post office making up what looks at first glance like two huge bushes, and I'll show others in upcoming posts.

The shelter across the street at the corner of the courthouse is a memorial to (or display of) one of the area's lumbered old-growth trees. It's hard to photograph with the strong lights and darks, but I'll post it one of these days with good or bad photos. The corner is 7th and Commercial.

Here's a close-up of today's rhododendron flowers.

I took this photo four days ago when many of the blossoms were getting ready to open.

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Red, Red, Red, White and Blue

April 30, 2010

Back of the U.S. Post Office

The rhododendrons are opening up all over town. They grow wonderfully here, and can be seen along the downtown streets and in peoples' yards along with azaleas, which also flourish. There are a lot of things I'm noticing this year because I'm taking photos and writing about them. Other people knew that the azaleas come out first, and the rhodies follow soon after, and I'm learning about it this year.

This big rhododendron bush marks the rear corner of the post office with a matching bush on the other side. On the left by the steps is a red azalea plant. To the left, but out of the photo are dark pink and also white ones. The really big rhododendrons - practically trees - are at the front corners of the post office, and I can't wait to see what they look like when the buds finally open. I'll let you know! As I said yesterday, I'm posting a few days in advance, so if the bushes are already blooming when you read this, please be patient for a few more days!

By the way, I've been waiting for an excuse to show this corner on 7th Street, because I like the yellow grille in the side of the building.

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Post Office and Plants

I want to thank Midnight Mike for loaning me several old postcards of Astoria for use on the blog. Above you can see an older post office building. It wasn't the first of Astoria's post offices, but it was older than our current building. The card was postmarked in 1907, but I don't know the date of the photo. I like the grace and style of the old stone building. It was in the same location as the current post office, but was smaller and left more space for grass and trees around it. There is another postcard in Mike's collection showing the building from a distance. It's from a different side, and I'll save it for another comparison. The other card is postmarked 1930, although I don't know when the photo was taken; I don't know when the old building was replaced by the new one.

Astoria's current post office (and there is only one) takes up the block bordered by 7th and 8th Streets, and Commercial and Bond. This is the entrance, on Commercial Street across from the County Courthouse. I originally took this photo (on March 16th) to show the huge rhododendron bush which is covered with buds and about ready to burst into flower. The cluster that's already in bloom is a separate bush underneath the big one.

The flowers are still trying to hang on even though recent storms have taken their toll.

And the buds on the large bush are almost ready to display the seasonal riot of color if the something-or-other that's been nibbling them doesn't finish them first. The purple azaleas I showed you on February 28th are out of sight behind the wheelchair ramp near the base of the flagpole.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Spring Flowers Come to Astoria

This azalea bush at the bottom of the wheelchair ramp at the Post Office is one of my favorites - maybe because of the wonderful purple color, and because I pass it nearly every day. Soon the rhododendron behind it will also be in bloom. Azaleas and rhodies turn Astoria into a flowery paradise every spring. I've wanted to take a photo for the past few days, but each time I've been there, the rain has been coming down.

Here you can see the evidence of recent rain. I had the lighting set wrong on the second photo, then tried to correct the color, but the photo doesn't do justice to the image. I'll try again when I have more patience :)

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

More post office doors

Here is one of the three sets of doors entering the only post office in Astoria. On November 1, we saw the doors from the inside. They were actually the doors next to these, as this is the set on the left as you go in, and the doors shown previously were the center set. I've liked this building since the first day I saw it, which was probably almost immediately after arriving here in the summer of 2001. For one thing, it was a nice contrast with the latter-day boring architecture of the post offices where I'd lived recently. For a long time, the post office was a place I visited almost daily, due to shipping orders from my online store. Now they pick up, so I go less often. But whether it's often or not, it's nice to have a fun building to look at. It seems as thought it belongs to a much bigger town with the marble, the ornate metal, and the heavy glass tabletops.

One of Astoria's claims to fame is having the oldest post office west of the Rocky Mountains. Although the current post office is an older building, Neoclassical in style, I didn't think it could be the original. But it was quite some time before I stumbled across the location where the original had been. It had been maintained in the home of Astoria's first postmaster, John M. Shiveley.

Theme Day: "Doorways"

The U.S. Post Office, Astoria, Oregon, 97103

Doorways from around the world: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of City Daily Photo Theme Day: "Doorways."