Editing Astoria Column

{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Astoria Column
| image = Astoria Column 2024.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = The Astoria Column in 2024
| location = [[Astoria, Oregon]], U.S.
| nearest_city = 
| coordinates = {{coord|46|10|53|N|123|49|03|W|display=inline,title}}
| architecture = 
| built = 1926, {{Years or months ago|1926}}
| added = May 2, 1974
| refnum = 74001681
| governing_body = 
}}
The '''Astoria Column''' is a [[tower]] in the [[Pacific Northwest|northwest]] [[United States]], overlooking the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] on Coxcomb Hill in [[Astoria, Oregon]]. Built in 1926, the concrete and steel structure is part of a {{convert|30|acre|adj=on}} city park called Astor Park.

The {{convert|125|ft|m|adj=on}}-tall column has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an exterior observation deck at the top.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Astoria Column: Your visit to Astoria, Oregon starts here. |url=https://astoriacolumn.org/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=The Astoria Column |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
The tower was built in 1926 with financing by the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] and [[Vincent Astor]], 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]] in [[Rome]] (and [[Place Vendôme]] Column in [[Paris]]), the Astoria Column was dedicated on July 22, 1926.<ref name=bigcle>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l7VWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5536%2C199138 |work=Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=Astoria to hold big celebration |date=July 9, 1926 |page=2}}</ref><ref name=Oregon/><ref name=acolcch>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cbFXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uvMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6859%2C293169 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Astoria Column, Coxcomb Hill |date=July 13, 1926 |page=7}}</ref><ref name=tcatas>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=orVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6372%2C1096842 |newspaper=Eugene Guard |location=(Oregon) |title=The Column at Astoria |date=July 24, 1926 |page=4 }}</ref> Maintenance work was done in 1936.<ref>"[[wikisource:en:Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Number 3#269|News and Comment]]", ''Oregon Historical Quarterly'' vol. 37 no. 3.</ref> In 1974, the column was listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name=ornrhp>{{cite web
  | title = Oregon National Register List
  | publisher = State of Oregon
  | url = http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf
  | accessdate =  2008-08-19| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080910052608/http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf| archivedate= 10 September 2008 | url-status= live}}
</ref> The murals that make up the column were refurbished in 1995 and a granite plaza was added in 2004.<ref name=friends/>

The column was one of a series of monuments erected by Great Northern between 1925 and 1926.<ref>{{cite journal |title= The Columbia River Historical Expedition: The Achievement and Its Promise |first= F. G. |last= Young |journal= Oregon Historical Quarterly |volume= 27 |number= 3 |date= September 1926 |pages= 292–294 |publisher= [[Oregon Historical Society]] |jstor= 20610354}}</ref>

==Details==
[[File:The Astoria Column at Astoria, Oregon - NARA - 520101.tif|thumb|upright=0.80|The column in 1938, as photographed by [[George A. Grant]]|left]]
The {{convert|125|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} column stands atop {{convert|600|ft|m|adj=on}} Coxcomb Hill and includes an interior spiral staircase that leads to an observation deck at the top.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.</ref> The spiral [[sgraffito]] frieze on the exterior of the structure has a width of nearly {{convert|7|ft|spell=in}} and a length of  {{convert|525|ft}}.<ref name=Oregon/> Projected by [[Electus D. Litchfield]] and painted by [[Attilio Pusterla]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Perez |first1=Andrea Larson |title=Astoria |date=2016 |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4671-1647-3 |page=64 |language=en}}</ref> the [[mural]] shows 14 significant events in the early history of Oregon, as well as 18 scenes from the history of the region, including [[Gray Sails the Columbia River|Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia River]] in 1792 and the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].<ref name=Oregon/> The frieze starts with the "pristine forest" and concludes with the arrival of the railway in Astoria.<ref>{{cite web |title=Artwork of the Column |url=https://astoriacolumn.org/artwork/ |website=astoriacolumn.org |publisher=Friends of the Astoria Column |accessdate=2020-02-01}}</ref>

<!--Designed to resemble the Roman Trajan's Column, the Astoria Column was-->Constructed of concrete, its foundation is {{convert|12|ft|spell=in}} deep.<ref name=friends>{{cite web|url=http://www.astoriacolumn.org/|title=The Astoria Column|year=2007|publisher=Friends of the Astoria Column, Inc.|accessdate=2008-08-19| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080816044805/http://www.astoriacolumn.org/| archivedate= 16 August 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Built at a cost of {{Inflation|US|27,134|1926|fmt=eq|orig=yes}}, the tower has 164 steps to the top, where there is a replica of the [[State Seal of Oregon]].<ref name=friends/>

A plaque near the column commemorates the pioneering [[Cable television|Community Antenna Television (CATV)]] system built by local resident [[Cable television in the United States#Ed Parsons|Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons]], initially at the [[John Jacob Astor Hotel|Hotel Astoria]], in which twin-lead transmission wires redistributed the signal of KRSC-TV (now [[KING-TV]]) in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] to area homes. Former Astoria resident Byron Roman was also involved in early cable invention and distribution.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010826114718/http://www.geocities.com/iconostar/history-public-access-TV.html The History Of Public Access Television<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cablecenter.org/education/library/collectionDetail.cfm?id=91&type=manuscript |title=The Cable Center<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927224732/http://www.cablecenter.org/education/library/collectionDetail.cfm?id=91&type=manuscript |archive-date=2007-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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]] in August 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kezi.com/news/local/122004 |title=Local News &#124; KEZI |access-date=2009-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713145338/http://kezi.com/news/local/122004 |archive-date=2011-07-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Rainbow Column with Fuchsia top.jpg|Astoria Column in a rainbow
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
File:Astoria Column Blue.jpg|The column in blue lighting
</gallery>
{{clear}}

==See also==

===Other Great Northern memorials===
<!--in order from east to west-->
* [[Verendrye, North Dakota]]
* [[Camp Disappointment]] (Meriwether), Montana
* [[Marias Pass]] (Summit), Montana
* [[Bonners Ferry, Idaho]]
* [[Wishram, Washington]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.astoriacolumn.org/ |title=Friends of the Astoria Column |accessdate=2012-04-12}}
* {{cite gnis |id=1117074 |name=Astoria Column |accessdate=2012-04-12}}
* {{Oregon Encyclopedia|astoria_column|author=Filips, Janet}}
{{Commons category-inline|Astoria Column}}

[[Category:1920s murals]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Oregon]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1926]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Astoria, Oregon]]
[[Category:Cable television in the United States]]
[[Category:Culture of Astoria, Oregon]]
[[Category:Towers in Oregon]]
[[Category:Monumental columns in the United States]]
[[Category:Murals in Oregon]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Astoria, Oregon]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Clatsop County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Great Northern Railway (U.S.)]]