Yellow and blue for Jacob

I'll give you the convoluted references in a moment, but this photo is to let Jacob know that we do have yellow and blue here in Astoria. The "house" is the house of God, actually the First Presbyterian Church at 11th Street and Franklin Avenue. All summer, they've been working on a new coat of paint, turning the slightly faded yellow into a beautiful, rich non-faded version of about the same color (more waterproof, as the old paint was due for replacement). The sky, of course, is blue, as it is in real life today. I wonder how much longer that will last here in the land of clouds and rain? Jacob, I may be breaking your "house rules" with the lack of blue on the building, but I suppose it's also possible they could play some kind of blues gospel inside the church. This is only conjecture, based on the fact that Astoria is home to many, many, many "mature" hippie types. This means that here at the end of the world, we may have some of the best darn live local blues music you're going to find anywhere outside of Chicago.

I digress horribly. Jacob was discussing "Swedish houses." Whether or not any Swedes attend this church I also could not tell you, but since so many Swedes were instrumental in founding Astoria, I have to think that the answer is "yes." But speaking of blue and yellow Swedish houses, Lee (Bend, Oregon, Daily Photo), tells me there were at one time quite a few yellow and blue houses in Astoria owned by Swedes. Fer real.

To understand the nonsense behind this post (should anyone care to), travel to Ocala, Florida (this post), and to yesterday's Astoria post, where you will have to read Jacob's comment in the Comments section. Brattcat also has a "Swedish house" on her blog.

And lest I forget, happy Skywatch Friday, everyone!

P.S. for Vogon Poet, today I was going to post pix of the inside of yesterday's house, but Jacob got me going. I'm sure you can understand that, and maybe tomorrow I'll show the inside :)

The oldest dwelling in Astoria, Oregon

This house at 1337 Franklin Avenue is the oldest dwelling in Astoria. It's also one of the hardest to photograph, as I've never seen it without cars parked in front, and it has a hideous power pole with a tangle of wires that beats just about any other hideous power pole and tangle of wires in Astoria. That aside, the house is 100% charm, and it's also for sale through Area Properties last time I heard.

The house has not always stood on this spot. It was built in two pieces. You can see from the side view where the separation would have been.

A plaque on the front of the house reads, "1852: Built by Capt. Hiram Brown who came to Astoria area in 1848. Original portion of house built in Adairville (East Astoria), was barged downriver about 1865 to Tenth St., and rolled to present location without cracking wallpaper or breaking a window. Astoria's Oldest dwelling." Apparently the black and white signs were the project of one man, and were not funded by the city or the historical society. I'll have to learn more about that sometime.

I was able to tour the house one day recently when there was an estate sale on the property. I took a few photos inside, but it was a dark day and most didn't turn out well. I enjoyed the old place. It had a good feeling, and there was quite a lot of space inside, including the basement, although "basement" may not be the right word to use here in Astoria, where so many houses are on seriously sloping ground, so that one side of the basement may be resting at ground level and the other is completely or mostly lodged in the earth. The tall trees behind the house were nice, there was a pleasantly large back yard, a wisteria-covered carport, a spacious kitchen, a delightful back porch glassed-in with small panes, unusual nooks and crannies, etched glass, a carved banister, unique trim, hardwood floors, and some good old-house vibes. The heavy, red drapes in the dining room still had that Victorian-era feel, which was cool to visit, but I think I might find a way to lighten up the downstairs. Hmm. Am I dreaming of moving in? Of course, it's part of the fun :)

I like to think of what this building was like when the waterfront came nearly to its doorstep (now several blocks away) and there were no power poles in sight.

. . . AND NOW . . .

Thanks to Daryl and Photoshop, the house can now breathe! Daryl said, "I took your challenge (that you didn’t know you made.) 15 minutes in photoshop…." Cool :) Thanks, Daryl. I find myself breathing deeper when I look at it, too. It's like kicking your shoes off when you get home . . .

. . . Or does it look more homey with one color-coordinated car at the (imaginary) hitching post?

Made in Oregon?

Astoria, Oregon, is approximately three hours' drive from the state capital at Salem. But is that where this drain cover was made? It seems there is or was a Salem Iron Works in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; there is currently one in Salem, Oregon, which is also known as Gerlinger Casting Corporation; and one in Baldwin Place, New York, although that one seems to specialize in decorative iron railings for home and garden.

I only found that of any interest after the fact. I liked the way this drain cover reflected the light; the way the ferns peeked through even after the dry days of summer; and the neat, tidy lettering, deeply stamped and artistic in its own industrial, no-nonsense way. Doesn't that look like a bolt in the pavement above the drain? I didn't go back to check it, but if you happen to be passing by the corner of 13th and Exchange, let me know :)

Ferns grow wild around here, which still makes me smile when I think of it. Yes, we are in a temperate rain forest. I love it.

Does this photo qualify for Watery Wednesday? It's a far cry from a scenic waterfall or a wide expanse of the Columbia River, but hey. If it were not for the water that pours down this gutter, there would be no need for a slotted drain cover. And the presence of ferns must mean something. Shooting pictures of water in Astoria is a no-brainer, so let's try something different today, OK?

Theme Day: "Big"

It's Theme Day (the first day of each month) at City Daily Photo. My entry from Astoria is a comparison of the tall auto pack Celestial Wing with the Arrow 2 pilot boat. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can also see a "tiny" human clad head to toe in bright orange gear. I think if I needed to be found in this environment, I'd also want to be wearing a bright color! Depending on the type of ship, the bay (I'm not sure what you call this part of the ship) that we see as a dark rectangle where the person is, may be higher above the water line. Of any of the ships that come up the Columbia River, the auto packs have the greatest distance from the water line to the top deck of the ship. I love the clean, glowing colors of the Honda line shown here.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Summer colors: Custard King

The purple and lavender building is Custard King. It's very popular during summer, when you can see people sitting at the sidewalk tables lapping at their ice cream cones before they melt. I took this photo from the River Walk near 16th Street. It's hard to tell here, but Marine Drive, the main thoroughfare, runs behind the trees and in front of Custard King. The big white building behind it is the Heritage Museum of the Clatsop County Historical Society, a substantial Classical building which was built in 1904 as Astoria's City Hall. The blue building is the Shallon Winery. The wood deck on the right was built by the city with picnic tables on the platform for anyone to use while enjoying a view of the river. Oddly, the only time I've gotten flea bites in Astoria was when I sat here eating sandwiches one day. I've never been back to use the tables, although I walk past often, because it's near home!

Pitted driftwood on the shore

I found this captivating log cast up on the rocks on the Columbia's banks the other day while walking along the River Walk somewhere between Safeway and the Maritime Museum. I don't know that I've ever seen a log with pitted, trailing patterns quite like this. I must have seen one at some time, since I doubt that its such an exotic species that its like hasn't been found on these shores before, but I really can't place it. If anyone knows, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. Coming across a picturesque piece of natural art like this just added to the beauty of the day, the calm and peaceful sense of having the good fortune to be able to stroll along the banks of such a beautiful river.

Boards and rails

The River Walk has been extended east and west of the main part of town in the last couple of years, and is a favorite place for locals and visitors to enjoy the river. You can see the rails of the waterfront trolley, and of course, the Astoria-Megler bridge. To the right are more pilings, as shown in the last few posts, although these are at the west end of town, and the ones I showed previously are located downtown. The walk goes under the bridge and continues along the West Mooring Basin and the boat yards. Visitors who come by cruise ship can walk this way into town if they prefer walking to taking the buses provided. The River walk consists of different types of paving in different places. Here we see the boards that bridge the river. In other places the walk is paved or includes concrete sidewalks. I can remember not long ago when there was no boardwalk on the far west end of the walk, and you traversed the water by walking on the ties of the tracks.

Clark Gable in Astoria?

I know I was surprised when I first found this plaque a number of years ago. It didn't compute. Why here? Actually, there's been some question about whether the Clark Gable story is really true, but I looked up the answer on this web site, and they give some of their fascinating research. The building itself is a replacement for the Astoria Theatre that burned down in the big city fire of 1922; it's now a small one-story hospice connected with Columbia Memorial Hospital.

The plaque, located at the corner of 12th Street and Exchange, reads:

CLARK GABLE

1901-1960

BEGAN HIS ACTING CAREER

IN THE SUMMER of 1922 AT THE

ASTORIA THEATRE

Located on this site, the building was

destroyed by fire in December, 1922

Pilings and more pilings along Astoria's waterfront

Yesterday Steffe wondered why the pilings and posts in this blog entry were left in place and allowed to decay. That photo was taken from the River Walk at 14th Street. Just two blocks up from there at 16th Street, you can see more of Astoria's typical waterfront scenery in today's photo. There are areas along the waterfront where the pilings and beams are thick like this and areas where they are less so. In the past, there were many buildings over the water. Once the huge cannery and fish-packing industries lost their exuberance here, they were no longer needed and they disappeared. I'm sure that it simply wasn't worth anyone's time and trouble to remove the pilings (and for what reason?). The town doesn't grow so fast that it needs this space, in fact, Astoria remains fairly static at about 10,000 people, probably due to its historically slow economy. There may be other factors that people will mention in the Comments, but I'm not an economist, and I'm still new to the area.

What do you do with a charming town like Astoria when the industry is essentially gone? It becomes a tourist attraction, although it is certainly not a ghost town. And what is more interesting to tourists than something they couldn't see at home? As a resident and having talked with many visitors, I believe Astoria's interesting and unusually picturesque waterfront is a big part of the draw. So most of the pilings will be left alone - at least, I hope so. I believe that many of the ones you see in this photo are slated for demolition at some time in the near future due to plans to build a controversial 4-story condo, both taller and wider than the existing building. I won't get into that here. Let's just say that many people enjoy Astoria's waterfront for its unique and picturesque qualities, including the dilapidated areas where buildings once existed. You can see a concrete pad in this photo, no longer flat, but slanted several directions. The sea birds, and especially the seagulls, congregate here until the tide comes up high enough to cover the cement, which it does frequently. A sign along the bank tells us that a church was one of the buildings occupying this location. At one time many of the the buildings on the waterfront were built over the river, and people could actually fish through holes in the board streets.

The imaginatively-designed building on the far right is the office and dispatch station for the River Pilots, and is connected by a wooden walkway to the shore just out of sight on the right. The docks beyond, at 17th Street, are home to the Coast Guard ship Steadfast and to the decommissioned Columbia Light Ship and Columbia Buoy. You can barely see the white peak of the roof of the Maritime Museum. More on that later, and also more of Astoria's watery ruins in days to come.

Where the ferry docked

These disintegrating pilings, posts, and pulleys are all that's left of the Astoria's old ferry landing. Located between today's U.S. Customs building and the 14th Street Dock, you can also see the edges of the slip where the Ferry loaded and docked. The ferry service crossed from Astoria to Washington between 1921 and 1966. There was no bridge during those years, and it was left to modern steel technology to devise one. The first ferry boat, called The Tourist, was built locally and carried fifteen cars and, of course, passengers. Originally begun and operated by a colorful Swede (Captain Fritz Elfving), the business was purchased and run by the State of Oregon in 1946.

Captain Elfving had a rival in the Union Pacific Ferry, docked just across the river. The "Ferry Wars" included the Union Pacific driving pilings in the water to block Elfving's boats, and Elfving ramming those pilings apart with his third boat, Tourist 3, to get them out of his way. Oddly enough, these drifting logs floated back to cause serious damage to the Union Pacific's landing. Elfving finally bought out his competitors in 1934. After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Tourist No. 2 was commandeered and used to lay mines in the Columbia River.

Interesting photos and information on the history of Astoria's ferry operation can be found on a plaque at the 14th Steet Dock; in the book, Astoria, by Karen L. Leedom; and in the Astoria Heritage Museum.