"... In point of beauty of situation, few places will vie with Astoria. It is situated on the south side of the Columbia river, eleven miles from cape Disappointment, as the crow flies. From Astoria there is a fine view of the high promontory of Cape Diappointment, and the ocean bounding it on the west; the Chinook Hills and Point Ellice, with its rugged peak, on the north; Tongue Point and Katalamet Range on the east; and a high background, bristling with lofty pines, to the south. The ground rises from the river gradually to the top of a ridge five hundred feet in elevation. This was originally covered with a thick forest of poines: that part reclaimed by the first occupants is again growing up in brushwood. From all parts of the ground the broad surface of the river is in view. ..." [Wilkes, May 22, 1841]

Great views of the Columbia and such spots as the Cape Disappointment, Point Ellice, and Tongue Point can be seen from the Astoria shoreline.

"... Elevated over the Columbia River on wooden pilings, the Union Fish cannery was built in 1897. The basic building, some 50 feet by 200 feet, contained equipment for gutting, filleting, packing, sealing, and cooking the fish, and labeling and storing the finished cans. ... Between the shore and the cannery were ranks of wooden racks for drying the gillnets, so called because the mesh of the net caught the migrating salmon behind their gills. Alongside the drying racks were some of the small gillnet boats, powered by two triangular sails. Under sail, the boats resembled butterflies, giving rise to the term “butterfly fleet” for the gillnet fishermen. Union Fish expanded over the years to become one of the largest packers in Astoria. The steep decline of the canned salmon industry led to the sale and dissolution of Union Fish in 1975. ..." [Oregon Historical Society Website, 2006]

The Union Fisherman's Cooperative was the result of Astoria fishermen coming up against local canneries over prices paid for fish.

"... In the 1890s, Astoria fishermen warred with local canneries over prices paid for fish, hazardous conditions, and the use of fish traps. A disastrous fishermen’s strike in 1896 resulted in the formation by gillnet fishermen of the Union Fishermen’s Co-Operative Packing Company. ... The company built its new cannery building in Astoria’s Uniontown district. Uniontown (named not for the cannery but for the real estate plat, the Union Addition) was also the principal Finnish community ..." [Oregon Hostorical Society Website, 2006]

The "Union Fishermen's Cooperative Packing Company Alderbrook Station" was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 (Building #91000053).

The building was used in the movie “Free Willy II”.

"... By 1810 he [John Jacob Aster] decided to expand his operations from the Great Lakes region to the rich fur territory of the Northwest, and incorporated the Pacific Fur Company to do so. Astor held the majority of stock, and the rest was distributed among partners including Wilson Price Hunt, Duncan McDougal, Donald McKenzie, John Clarke, and others. Except for Astor and Hunt, most of the partners were Canadians who had previously worked for the North West Company. On September 8, 1810, the first Astorians, as the Pacific Fur Company men were known, sailed from New York in the ship Tonquin, which reached the Columbia in the spring of 1811. The partners on board selected a point on the south bank of the river and built a post they called Astoria, where the modern Oregon city of the same name is now located. Meanwhile, a second party, under Hunt, left St. Louis in March 1811, and reached Astoria a year later after a particularly grueling overland journey. ..." ["HistoryLink.org" Website, 2006]

Alexander Ross, a member of the Aster party of 1811, described the founding of Astoria in his narrative "Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River":

"... On the fourth day after our landing, we planted some potatoes and sowed a few garden seeds, and on the 16th of May we laid the foundations of our first building; but in order to procure suitable timber for the purpose, we had to go back some distance - the wood on the site being so large and unmanageable; and for want of cattle to haul it, we had to carry it on our shoulders, or drag it along the ground - a task of no ordinary difficulty. For this purpose, eight men were harnessed, and they conveyed in six days all the timber required for a building or store of sixty feet long by twenty-six broad. On the 18th, as soon as the foundation was completed, the establishment was named Astoria, in honour of Astor, the projector of the enterprise. ..." [Ross, 1849, narrative of May 1811]

In 1812, the U.S. declared war on Great Britain, and in 1813 Astoria was sold (under duress) to the British North West Company. The settlement was renamed Fort George for the then King of England. Astoria continued to be known as Fort George for more than 20 years, although the name "Astoria" never quite died out.

"... Here it was that the negotiation between the two great functionaries, M'Dougall and M'Tavish, commenced. The terms were soon adjusted, and the prices fixed. The whole of the goods on hand, both at Astoria and throughout the interior, were delivered over to the North-West Company, at 10 per cent. on cost and charges. The furs were valued at so much per skin. The whole sales amounted to 80,500 dollars: M'Tavish giving bills of exchange on the agents for the amount, payable in Canada. This transaction took place on the 16th of October, and was considered fair and equitable on both sides ..." [Ross, 1849]

"... On the 12th day of December, the death-warrant of short-lived Astoria was signed. On that day, Captain Black went through the customary ceremony of taking possession, not only of Astoria, but of the whole country. ... The name of Astoria was now changed to that of Fort George ..." [Ross, 1849]

In 1818, the British surrendered Fort George to the Americans, however Fort George continued to be used by the North West Company.

In 1821 the British North West Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1825 Dr. John McLoughlin moved the center of operations of the Hudson Bay Company to Fort Vancouver, in Washington, 100 miles upstream.

In 1838 the "Map of the United States Territory of Oregon West of the Rocky Mountains, Exhibiting the various Trading Depots or Forst occupied by the British Hudson Bay Company, connected with the Western and northwestern Fur Trade. Compiled in the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, from the latest authorities, under the direction of Col. J.J. Abert, by Wash: Hood." had Astoria labeled "Ft. Astoria or Clatsop or Ft. George".

F.A. Wislizenus, M.D., in "A Journey to the Rocky Mountains in 1839" wrote (published in 1840):

"... Fort George, the Astoria of the past, consists simply of a blockhouse occupied by only three or four men, whose duty it is to note the arrival of vessels and pilot them. ..."

Rev. Gustavus Hines wrote about the Fort George of 1840 (published in 1852):

"... Fort George consists of three small block-houses, one of which is occupied by Mr. Birney and family, and the others for purposes of trading. ..." [Hines, May 23, 1840]

In 1841 Charles Wilkes, with the U.S. Exploring Expedition, described Astoria.

"... In the morning we had a view of the somewhat famous Astoria, which is any thing but what I should wish to describe. Half a dozen log houses, with as many sheds, and a pig-sty or two, are all that it can boast of, and even these appear to be rapidly going to decay. The Company pay little regard to it, and the idea of holding or improving it as a post, has long since been given up. The headquarters of their operations have been removed to Vancouver, eighty miles further up the river, since which Astoria has merely been held for the convenience of their vessels. It boasts of but one field, and that was in potatoes, which I can, however, vouch for as being very fine. In former times it had its gardens, forts, and banqueting halls; and from all accounds, when it was the head-quarters of the Northwest Company, during their rivalship with the Hudson bay Company, there was as jovial a set residing here, as ever were met together. I have had the pleasure of meeting with several of the survivors, who have recounted their banquetings, &c. ..." [Wilkes, May 22, 1841]

In 1847 the first post office west of the Rocky Mountains was opened in Astoria to serve a population of 250.

In 1856, the town of Astoria was officially incorporated, having gained the reputation of being one of the wildest towns on the West Coast.

" Between the last two points [Point Adams and Tongue Point] like the rival villages of Upper and Lower Astoria. The lower is the most western, and on the location established by the Pacific Fur Company in 1811, and to which was given the name of Astoria. A large saw-mill is in operation here, and a military post was established but abandoned a few years since. The place contains less than fifty houses, and at one time, as a landing place, had an unenviable reputation on account of the character of the "beach combers". The name of the place was changed to Fort George in 1813, on being taken by the sloop-of-war Raccoon. The original name was restored in 1818.

At Upper Astoria is located the custom-house, off which is the rendezvous of the United State revenue cutter. A large saw-mill is built here; and a government military road is being opened to Salem, on the Willamette river. Between the village and Tongue Point lies the wreck of the Silvie de Grace."