The Columbia River Maritime Museum on the Astoria waterfront

The Columbia River Maritime Museum as an Astoria economic anchor

ByJoel Koskinen

Photo: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum began in 1962 in Astoria’s old city hall, with a collection put together by local residents who wanted to preserve the history of the river, its shipwrecks and its fishing industry. It moved to its current building on the waterfront in 1982 and has expanded several times since.

The building’s design, with a roof line suggesting waves, is easy to spot from the Riverwalk. Inside, exhibits cover the Columbia River Bar, the bar pilots and Coast Guard crews who work it, salmon canning, navigation and the river’s trade. A Coast Guard motor lifeboat displayed in rough-water position is one of the most photographed exhibits.

The lightship

Moored beside the museum is the lightship Columbia, which served as a floating lighthouse at the river’s mouth from 1951 until 1979, when a navigational buoy replaced it. Visitors can tour the ship, which is a National Historic Landmark.

Why it matters

The museum is one of the few attractions on the coast that does as well in January as in July, because it is indoors. That gives the city a reason for visitors to come in the rainy season. It is also a significant employer and runs education programs with local schools.

The museum has also invested in the area around it. Its Barbey Maritime Center, in a restored railroad depot nearby, offers classes in traditional boatbuilding and other maritime skills, connecting tourism with the working waterfront.

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