Astoria plans a July 18 celebration for the Astoria Column’s 100th birthday, featuring a rededication service, multicultural festivities, live music and entertainment, arts and crafts, a writing and poster contest, and specially crafted beer and coffee. Visitors have been honoring the 125-foot-tall hand-muraled landmark since January, arriving in varied outfits including ball gowns, sweats, and firefighter uniforms. The column is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits atop Coxcomb Hill. The Clatsop County Historical Society and Friends of Astoria Column emphasizes that a visit helps people understand the region’s geography and history, including nearby water, rivers, and the Lewis and Clark winter site. Civic-minded Astorians helped preserve the landmark’s existence.
"As befits one of the most iconic landmarks in Oregon, Astoria has grand plans to celebrate the 100 th birthday of its Astoria Column. The big day happens July 18 with a lineup of festivities both downtown and atop Coxcomb Hill, including a rededication service, multicultural celebrations, live music and entertainment, arts and crafts, a writing and poster contest, and specially crafted beer and coffee."
"Not surprisingly, not everyone is waiting for summer to pay homage to the 125-foot-tall, hand-muraled column listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since January, visitors have shown up to celebrate the centennial dressed in ball gowns, sweats, and even firefighter uniforms. It seems only right that a one-of-a-kind landmark should be honored with a one-of-a-kind party."
"“Every visit to Astoria should begin up there, whether you're going to climb the 164 steps to the top or not,” said McAndrew “Mac” Burns, executive director of the Clatsop County Historical Society and Friends of Astoria Column. “Just being in the parking lot gives you such a perfect understanding of why Astoria is the size that it is ... water on three sides, that there's the ocean eight miles out; there's Youngs River; there's the place where Lewis and Clark spent their winter. There's Washington over there. I mean, it just gives you a real sense of where you are.”"
"But were it not for some civic-minded Astorians, the column might be a mere mast for a waving flag, or worse, nonexistent, its home atop Coxcomb Hill, one more neighborhood of mansions. The story starts somewhere in the 1920s, when Great Northern Railway executive Ralph Budd sought to boost railroad tourism in the West by commissioning a number of monuments reflecting significant historic sites."
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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