Astoria, Oregon, is, or was, famous for her canneries. There were many booming years for the fishing industry, and the canneries were going strong. Gradually, the fishing industry faded and the canneries were left to rot on their posts and fall into, or blow into, the Columbia River with the fierce winter wind storms the area seems to attract.
One of the first things I noticed when I moved to town was the net loft, or Big Red, on the east end of town at the bottom of 31st Street. It is, or I should say was, a wonder to behold. I often used to drive down to look at it just to enjoy its simple design and the majestic way it stayed on its pilings through literally hell and high water. I can't even guess how many photos I've taken of it, from many different angles. It was also one of the most intact canneries around, and its owner, Royal
Nebeker, worked his ass off to fix it up and maintain it, which was a mammoth job.
This last storm, with winds exceeding 120 mph, was the straw that broke the camel's back. The top floor of Old Red blew away, and damn near took
Nebeker (who was in it at the time) along with it. You can read the story here:
"After the storm, a glimmer of hope"I feel crushed just looking at it now, and I can't even imagine how he must feel. With any luck, public support and funding will put things right.
There's another red cannery on the east end of town, tucked into the
Alderbrook area. It looks very similar to Old Red, and it sure looks like someone is taking care of it. So I'm hopeful it will be around for a good long time, as it doesn't look like it sustained any damage from the recent storm.
Just to the east of the
Alderbrook cannery there used to be the skeleton of a cannery in the process of being repaired, but it was reduced to splinters in January 2006 ... just about a month after I took some photos of it. At least I have a record that something was there at one time.
A lady came into my booth at the Sunday Market a few summers ago and asked me to go take photos of a cannery that was hidden away upriver. Had quite a time finding it, but find it I did, and took several photos of it. This one, too, obviously had someone taking care of it.
Last summer I was at an event with my photos, and an old gentleman was browsing through my photos. Suddenly he looked up at me, scowled and said, "You've been trespassing!" and he held up a photo of that cannery upriver. Whoops. Okay, yes, I was. What can I say?
Turned out the lady who sent me up to take photos of his cannery was his sister, and thankfully I remembered her name. So all was forgiven, sort of. And I did give him a matted copy of the photo, which seemed to mollify him a bit. At least I got a smile out of him.
Just last week an old fisherman told me about a cannery hidden away in the
Brownsmead area. It took a lot of driving around in circles, but I did, indeed find it. And a very fine old building it is, indeed. I was so captivated I took dozens of photos of it.
Now the trend seems to be to take old canneries and modernize them, like Pier 39 and the Red Building near the Cannery Pier Hotel. I guess it's a good thing, but I'm not totally convinced. I'm just glad I got photos of the Red Building before it got completely yuppified. Truth be told, I liked it better in its original form. I didn't see Pier 39 before the renovation, except in old photos, so I have no idea how much was really changed.
So many canneries have just disappeared. I hope I can photograph the ones that are left before they do, too.
Click here to see Elleda's photography at the Astoria Photografpix web site
While out prowling in Svensen and Brownsmead for old canneries, I went down an endless number of intriguing roads. In my quest, it almost seemed to me that all roads in Clatsop County either dead end or loop. So it would seem impossible to actually get lost for more than an hour or two, as it all hooks together in some convoluted way.
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