Astoria, OR Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Set near the mouth of the Columbia River, ASTORIA was founded in 1811 as a private venture – a base for exporting furs to Asia – by the millionaire John Jacob Astor. "Fort Astoria" survived only a painful year and a half, beset by natu ral disasters and internal feuds, before it was sold to the British: Washington Irving made the best of the saga in his novel Astoria . A small replica of the old fort stands at 15th and Exchange streets, but nowadays many of Astoria's canneries and port facilities have vanished – the disused railroad tracks now gath er rust along the water – and the city … more »