The Astoria Column is a

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, overlooking the mouth of the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

on Coxcomb Hill in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. Built in 1926, the concrete and steel structure is part of a city park. The -tall column has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an observation deck at the top and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on May 2, 1974.

History

The tower was built in 1926 with financing by the Great Northern Railway and

Vincent Astor William Vincent Astor (November 15, 1891 – February 3, 1959) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Astor family. Early life Called Vincent, he was born in New York City on November 15, 1891. Astor was the el ...

, the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, in commemoration of the city's role in the family's business history. Patterned after the

Trajan Column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apo ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(and

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It i ...

Column in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

), the Astoria Column was dedicated on July 22, 1926. Maintenance work was done in 1936. In 1974, the column was listed in the

. The murals that make up the column were refurbished in 1995 and a granite plaza was added in 2004. The column was one of a series of monuments erected by Great Northern Railway between 1925 and 1926.

Details

The column stands atop Coxcomb Hill and includes an interior spiral staircase that leads to an observation deck at the top.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. The spiral

sgraffito ''Sgraffito'' (; plural: ''sgraffiti'') is a technique either of wall decor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface, or in pottery, by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive lay ...

frieze on the exterior of the structure has a width of nearly and a length of . Projected by

Electus D. Litchfield Electus Darwin Litchfield, FAIA (1872–1952) was an American architect and town planner, practicing in New York City.Attilio Pusterla, the

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

shows 14 significant events in the early history of Oregon, as well as 18 scenes from the history of the region, including Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 and the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

. The frieze starts with the "pristine forest" and concludes with the arrival of the railway in Astoria. Constructed of concrete, its foundation is deep. Built at a cost of , the tower has 164 steps to the top, where there is a replica of the

State Seal of Oregon The Seal of the State of Oregon is the official seal of the U.S. state of Oregon. It was designed by Harvey Gordon in 1857, two years before Oregon was admitted to the Union. The seal was preceded by the Salmon Seal of the Provisional Governm ...

. A plaque near the column commemorates the pioneering Community Antenna Television (CATV) system built by local resident Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons, initially at the Hotel Astoria, in which twin-lead transmission wires redistributed the signal of KRSC-TV (now

KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...

) in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

to area homes. Former Astoria resident Byron Roman was also involved in early cable invention and distribution. The cast-iron spiral staircase inside the column was closed for safety reasons in November 2007. It was reopened to the public in time for the

Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wat ...

in August 2009.

Images

File:Dedication_of_Astoria_Column.jpg, Newspaper on the day of dedication File:Astoria Column 3.jpg, Detail of the column mural File:Interior top of Astoria Column - Oregon.jpg, Roof File:Stairs of Astoria Column - Oregon.jpg, Spiral staircase (looking down) File:Inside the Astoria Column (Astoria, Oregon).jpg, Spiral staircase (looking up) File:Astoria Column (Clatsop County, Oregon scenic images) (clatDA0074c).jpg, The column at night

References

External links

* * * {{Commons category-inline, Astoria Column 1920s murals 1926 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures completed in 1926 Buildings and structures in Astoria, Oregon Cable television in the United States Culture of Astoria, Oregon Towers in Oregon Monumental columns in the United States Murals in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Astoria, Oregon Tourist attractions in Clatsop County, Oregon Great Northern Railway (U.S.)

History

Details

Images

See also

Other Great Northern memorials

References

External links