Astoria Column

The Astoria Column stands on Coxcomb Hill in Astoria, Oregon, overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River. The concrete and steel tower was built in 1926 and is part of a 30-acre city park called Astor Park. It is 125 feet tall and sits on a hill about 600 feet high, with a foundation twelve feet deep.

A spiral staircase of 164 steps climbs inside to an exterior observation deck at the top, where a replica of the State Seal of Oregon is set. The outside is wrapped in a spiral sgraffito frieze almost seven feet wide and 525 feet long. It shows 14 significant events from the early history of Oregon, plus 18 scenes from the history of the region, including Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It begins with the pristine forest and ends with the arrival of the railway in Astoria.

The Great Northern Railway and Vincent Astor, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, financed the tower to commemorate the city's role in the Astor family's business history. It was modeled on the Trajan Column in Rome and the Place Vendôme Column in Paris, and was dedicated on July 22, 1926. It was one of a series of monuments the railway put up between 1925 and 1926.

The column was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Its murals were refurbished in 1995 and a granite plaza was added in 2004. The cast-iron staircase inside was closed for safety reasons in November 2007 and reopened to the public in August 2009. A plaque near the column also marks an early cable television system built by a local resident, which relayed a Seattle station's signal to homes in the area.