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Fort Astoria replica, blockhouse and mural, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Fort Astoria Mural ...
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In 1956 a replica Fort Astoria's blockhouse was constructed on the site of the early fort.
Since 1956 three murals depicting the fort of 1813 have been painted on the side of a building at the site of the blockhouse. The second mural was removed in late 1980s when the wall was repaired. The last mural, painted in 2003 by local artists Roger McKay and Sally Lackaff, extends 100 feet around the 1956 recreation of the Fort's blockhouse.
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"... In 2002 and 2003, AVA, with support from the community, coordinated the
renovation of historic Fort Astoria Park, including landscaping,
replacement of the picket fence with hand-carved, locally-harvested fir
staves, and the commissioning of a mural depicting the first American
settlement in the middle of what is now downtown Astoria.
...
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Fort Astoria Park ...
has been on the National Register of Historic Places since the
early 1980s. The building at the rear of the site has been covered with
two previous murals. Repairs to the wall necessitated the removal of the
second mural in the late 1980s, after which the wall was painted gray. The
new mural extends 100 feet around the 1956 recreation of the Fort's
blockhouse, at the corner of 15th and Exchange Streets.
..."
[Astorial Visual Arts Website, 2006]
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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Click image to enlarge
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Mural, Fort Astoria replica, Astoria, Oregon.
Image taken August 8, 2009.
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards", with the "Penny Postcard" being a popular way to send greetings to family and friends. Today the Penny Postcard has become a snapshot of history.
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Penny Postcard: Fort Astoria, ca.1960s.
Penny Postcard, ca.1960s, "Fort Astoria, Astoria, Oregon". Caption on back reads: "This famous fort was restored in 1956. A "must" for the visitor to this area." Image by Henry Lonberg. Distributed and Published by Smith's Scenic Views, Tacoma, Washington. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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"FORT ASTORIA Desiring to dominate the areas explored by Lewis and Clark, John Jacob Astor sent expeditions overland and by sea to seize the mouth of the Columbia. The schooner Tonquin arrived first and work was begun at this site April 12, 1811. 'The foliage was budding. We imagined ourselves in the garden of Eden. Buildings were of boards tightly covered and roofed with cedar bark.' Later palisades were raised against the Indians. Here gathered adventurers from all the vast wilderness. Here, in 1814, lived the Oregon country's first white woman, the English barmaid, Jane Barnes. Here were the true beginnings of our stock raising, farming, and shipbuilding. The property was sold to the North West Company to avoid capture during the War of 1812 and was operated as 'Fort George' until its abandonment in 1825 when the Hudson's Bay Company moved headquarters to Fort Vancouver. The buildings decayed and modern Astoria rose upon the site."
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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