Historic N. Oregon Coast: Vintage Photos of Astoria, Bridges, Canneries

Published 09/30/25 at 6:25 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Astoria, Oregon) – History hasn't just left an indelible mark on Astoria: most of the town is history itself. The north Oregon coast burgh has been around the longest of any little city west of the Rockies. It's a place of many firsts.

Above: In this photo taken in 1941, one of maybe hundreds of fishing boats that ran the north coast is seen returning to Astoria with its bounty.

That helps explain why there are practically thousands of historical shots of the lovely little hamlet out there, but every once in awhile a few intriguing new ones sort of pop up. Like this bunch Oregon Coast Beach Connection found through the Library of Congress.

See even more at the Astoria History Timeline.

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Old Young's Bay Bridge has been around since 1921, one of the first designed by Conde D. McCullough, who was a kind of rock star of bridge design in Oregon.

“It was the first moveable span bridge designed by state bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough and is one of only five surviving double-leaf bascule bridges in Oregon built before 1941,” according to the Library of Congress. “The bridge is significant for its association with McCullough as an early example of his work.”

In the early '50s, he began design on the New Young's Bay Bridge just down the road – the one that now brings everyone into the north Oregon coast town.

These photos of the Old Young's Bay Bridge are from 2001, and it's unknown exactly why they are black 'n white.

In case you're wondering: yes, the bridge still lifts up on occasion. The operator's houses are still operational, but they are not manned around the clock. In fact, there usually has to be at least two hours notice that a ship will be passing through so an on-call operator can get in and lift the spans.

Canneries in Astoria were its absolute lifeblood, the primary reason it thrived in the early to mid century. They employed thousands and ran the economy here for about 100 years.

The first popped up in 1866, and only eight years later there were dozens lining the waterways of the Columbia and Young's Bay.

Fishing boats zipped right up next to the canneries and unloaded their wares on the spot. Salmon was the coveted catch of that first part of the area's history, but in the 1930s came tuna. Albacore launched a whole new industry.

Historical documents note that in '41 – when these shots were taken: “This plant paid from five to eight cents per pound for salmon this year.”

During World War II the Astoria Column is shut down and turned into a military installation. Lots of aspects of the coastline turned to keeping watch for invaders.

Shipping the tuna was also a major part of the industry, which was mostly done by rail.

These shots were also taken in the '40s.

In 1961, Astoria's canneries had been dwindling in numbers, but they all united under the Bumble Bee Tuna name. It was downhill from there, with the last one closing in 1980. For decades many of those piers and buildings remained, but quite a few of them disappeared, with a handful saved and converted into malls or hotel complexes.

In '66, the Astoria-Megler Bridge was opened. This dizzying shot was taken from the top in 1990.

See even more on the “Twists and Turns of the Building of the Astoria-Megler Bridge."

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