The Columbia River Maritime Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

of maritime history in the northwest

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, located about southeast of the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It has a national reputation for the quality of its exhibits and the scope of its collections and was the first museum in Oregon to meet national accreditation standards. The museum is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. It is the official state

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the milita ...

for Oregon. The museum opened in August 1963"Seafood Packer Pledges $5,000 To Museum Fund" (September 21, 1963). ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' (Portland), Section 3, p. 7. in the Old Astoria City Hall and in 1982 it moved to its current location, on the waterfront. A remodeling and expansion was undertaken in 2001–02.

History

The Columbia River Maritime Museum Association was founded in 1962 by Rolf Klep,"Museum founder, artist dies at 77" (September 15, 1981). ''The Oregonian'' (Associated Press story), p. D8. a commercial artist and avid marine artifact collector. After a public fundraising campaign, the group acquired the Old Astoria City Hall from the

Oregon Military Department The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the governor as commander-in-chief, the agency is responsib ...

, to house the new museum."Astoria Obtains Site For Maritime Museum" (June 24, 1962). ''The Sunday Oregonian'', p. 29. The association named its first museum director in January 1963,"Portland Man Named Director" (January 25, 1963). ''The Oregonian'', p. 11. and the Columbia River Maritime Museum opened to the public in August 1963, in the former city hall, at 1618 Exchange Street. In the early 1970s, a new fundraising campaign was launched for a planned move to a newly constructed, larger facility on the city's waterfront."Astoria museum to highlight history of Columbia River" (March 27, 1972). ''The Oregonian'', p. 10. As well as providing more space for the growing collection of artifacts, the move would allow the museum's buildings to be adjacent to some of the historic ships moored in Astoria, such as the Lightship ''Columbia''. Construction of the new facilities began in May 1975 and cost $2.75 million. The museum moved to its new waterfront site in May 1982. The new building provided of space, on a site.

2001–02 expansion

The museum's 40th anniversary and a $6 million remodeling and expansion project were celebrated May 11, 2002. The renovation increased exhibit space to and now houses interactive historical exhibits and museum acquisitions. Visitors may experience what it is like to pilot a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

, participate in a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

rescue on the Columbia River Bar, and live in Astoria during the height of salmon fishing. Huge windows make the Columbia River a living backdrop for exhibits that are interactive and touchable, many accompanied by interviews with people involved in the events depicted. The Columbia River Maritime Museum collects and exhibits maritime artifacts from the Columbia River and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. The Museum's all-donation collection exceeds 30,000 objects, 20,000 photographs, and a 10,000-volume research library.Overview
Columbia River Maritime Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2012.

Collections

* The bridge of the WWII era Destroyer USS ''Knapp'' * 44-foot

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

motor lifeboat 44300 * 36-foot US Coast Guard motor lifeboat * 32-foot troller ''Darle'' * Two gillnetter vessels * The Lightship ''Columbia'', WLV-604 * The Bar Pilot boat, ''Peacock'' * Third order

Fresnel Lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

Maritime collections include models, full-size watercraft, paintings, figureheads, and all manner of gear, wardrobe, weapons, instruments employed in commercial, private and military maritime operations. An orientation film, ''The Great River of the West'', shows the bar pilots working the dangerous Columbia River Bar.

Barbey Maritime Center

Columbia River Maritime Museum 2022 looking south

A recent addition to CRMM is the Barbey Maritime Center for Research and Industry, which opened in January 2013. It is located in the Astoria Railroad Depot, a former

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

located about east of the main museum. The structure was designed by architect Thomas D'Arcy McMahon, built in 1925 for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S), and was served regularly by passenger trains until 1952. SP&S successor

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

donated the brick building to the maritime museum in 1987. The city's Historic Landmarks Commission designated the building as historic in 1988. However, the facility continued to be largely unused for many years, and by 2011 it had "fallen into disrepair", as well as incurring minor earthquake damage in 2001. In 2011, plans for its renovation and use began taking shape. Work started in June 2012 and was scheduled to include

ADA Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...

-related accessibility modifications,

seismic retrofit Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent exp ...

s and restoration of historic doors and windows, among other changes. The museum plans to use part of the building for constructing boats, and

Clatsop Community College Clatsop Community College (CCC) is a public community college with facilities in Astoria and Seaside, Oregon. The college's service area includes Clatsop County, portions of Columbia and Tillamook counties and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties i ...

expects to use it as a work space for its classes about historic preservation. A dedication ceremony for the Barbey Maritime Center was held on January 25, 2013. The center is focused on boat-building and its associated local history and is open daily to the public.from their web site 1792 Marine Drive Astoria, OR 97103 503.325.2323 Open daily 9:30am - 5:00pm Various classes and demonstrations were planned to be offered, including actual boat building. The center was named in honor of the Barbey family, pioneers in the local fish packing industry and operator of the last fish cannery in Astoria.

References

External links