The Columbia River Maritime Museum is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located about southeast of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

in Astoria,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It has a national reputation for the quality of its exhibits and the scope of its collections and was the first museum in Oregon to meet national accreditation standards. The museum is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. It is the official state

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navy, navies and the m ...

for Oregon. The museum opened in August 1963"Seafood Packer Pledges $5,000 To Museum Fund" (September 21, 1963). ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' (Portland), Section 3, p. 7. in the Old Astoria City Hall and in 1982 it moved to its current location, on the waterfront. A remodeling and expansion was undertaken in 2001–02.

History

The Columbia River Maritime Museum Association was founded in 1962 by Rolf Klep,"Museum founder, artist dies at 77" (September 15, 1981). ''The Oregonian'' (Associated Press story), p. D8. a commercial artist and avid marine artifact collector. After a public fundraising campaign, the group acquired the Old Astoria City Hall from the

Oregon Military Department The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the Government of Oregon, government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the Governor of Oregon, governor as ...

, to house the new museum."Astoria Obtains Site For Maritime Museum" (June 24, 1962). ''The Sunday Oregonian'', p. 29. The association named its first museum director in January 1963,"Portland Man Named Director" (January 25, 1963). ''The Oregonian'', p. 11. and the Columbia River Maritime Museum opened to the public in August 1963, in the former city hall, at 1618 Exchange Street. In the early 1970s, a new fundraising campaign was launched for a planned move to a newly constructed, larger facility on the city's waterfront."Astoria museum to highlight history of Columbia River" (March 27, 1972). ''The Oregonian'', p. 10. As well as providing more space for the growing collection of artifacts, the move would allow the museum's buildings to be adjacent to some of the historic ships moored in Astoria, such as the Lightship ''Columbia''. Construction of the new facilities began in May 1975 and cost $2.75 million. The museum moved to its new waterfront site in May 1982. The new building provided of space, on a site.

2001–02 expansion

The museum's 40th anniversary and a $6 million remodeling and expansion project were celebrated May 11, 2002. The renovation increased exhibit space to and now houses interactive historical exhibits and museum acquisitions. Visitors may experience what it is like to pilot a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, participate in a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

rescue on the Columbia River Bar, and live in Astoria during the height of salmon fishing. Huge windows make the Columbia River a living backdrop for exhibits that are interactive and touchable, many accompanied by interviews with people involved in the events depicted. The Columbia River Maritime Museum collects and exhibits maritime artifacts from the

and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. The Museum's all-donation collection exceeds 30,000 objects, 20,000 photographs, and a 10,000-volume research library.Overview
Columbia River Maritime Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2012.

Collections

* The bridge of the WWII era Destroyer USS ''Knapp'' * 44-foot U.S. Coast Guard motor lifeboat 44300 * 36-foot US Coast Guard motor lifeboat * 32-foot troller ''Darle'' * Two gillnetter vessels * The Lightship ''Columbia'', WLV-604 * '' Sai-shou Maru'', a boat from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

which crossed the Pacific Ocean after being dislodged from its mooring during the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

* The Bar Pilot boat, ''Peacock'' * Third order

Fresnel Lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

Maritime collections include models, full-size watercraft, paintings, figureheads, and all manner of gear, wardrobe, weapons, instruments employed in commercial, private and military maritime operations. An orientation film, ''The Great River of the West'', shows the

bar pilot A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...

s working the dangerous

Columbia River Bar The Columbia Bar is a system of bars and shoals at the mouth of the Columbia River spanning the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. It is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world, earning the nickname Graveyard of the Pacific. The ...

Barbey Maritime Center

Columbia River Maritime Museum 2022 looking south

A recent addition to CRMM is the Barbey Maritime Center for Research and Industry, which opened in January 2013. It is located in the Astoria Railroad Depot, a former

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

located about east of the main museum. The structure was designed by architect Thomas D'Arcy McMahon, built in 1925 for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S), and was served regularly by passenger trains until 1952. SP&S successor

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

donated the brick building to the maritime museum in 1987. The city's Historic Landmarks Commission designated the building as historic in 1988. However, the facility continued to be largely unused for many years, and by 2011 it had "fallen into disrepair", as well as incurring minor earthquake damage in 2001. In 2011, plans for its renovation and use began taking shape. Work started in June 2012 and was scheduled to include

ADA Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...

-related accessibility modifications,

seismic retrofit Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

s and restoration of historic doors and windows, among other changes. The museum plans to use part of the building for constructing boats, and

Clatsop Community College Clatsop Community College (CCC) is a public community college with facilities in Astoria and Seaside, Oregon. The college's service area includes Clatsop County, portions of Columbia and Tillamook counties and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties ...

expects to use it as a work space for its classes about historic preservation. A dedication ceremony for the Barbey Maritime Center was held on January 25, 2013. The center is focused on boat-building and its associated local history and is open daily to the public.from their web site 1792 Marine Drive Astoria, OR 97103 503.325.2323 Open daily 9:30am - 5:00pm Various classes and demonstrations were planned to be offered, including actual boat building. The center was named in honor of the Barbey family, pioneers in the local fish packing industry and operator of the last fish cannery in Astoria.

References

External links