Exactly 100 years ago Astoria's downtown completely burned up. It dominated the afternoon paper here.
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| December 8th, 1922 |
At this time, in many ways Astoria could be considered the second city in Oregon. It had a higher average wage than Portland, and it had a larger business sector than Salem or Eugene.
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| Astoria bigger than Salem December 24th, 1921 |
The morning paper's first report underlined relief efforts.
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| December 9th, 1922 |
The afternoon headline the next day focused on speculation over cause.
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| December 9th, 1922 |
On an interior page, there was a collaged ad and article. It's not exactly clear whether this was an accident or intentional!
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| Accidental placement? December 9th, 1922 |
The editorials on making lemonade are interesting.
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| December 9th, 1922 |
From the editorial:
The new Astoria, if advantage is taken of the opportunity, should be the model city of the northwest, as all building can be harmonized along systematized lines, and the incongruous construction discords of most cities avoided. There is no reason why a city should not be built along a definite plan and made a thing of beauty - and we hope Astoria becomes Oregon's model city.
The morning paper turned to the impacts on banking and the local economy.
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| December 13th, 1922 |
The afternoon paper had notes on citizen patrols.
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| December 19th, 1922 |
They discussed bootlegging and newspapering:
Precautions are being taken by local and federal prohibition officers to prevent bootleggers importing liquor. Some arrests have been made. Every automobile entering the city is subject to search.
A car belonging to the Evening Budget and carrying in its tonneau a font of type loaned by the Portland Telegram was stopped. The guard read on the end of the type case "96 point Howland caps" and promptly dumped out the font of type; saying afterward that he believed the caps were dynamite caps.
Maybe there will be more to say later about the way the fire and rebuilding was understood here in Salem.
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| December 20th, 1922 |
In an ad for the Fire Relief Association, the name of Thomas Kay of the woolen mill is visible, and offices in Ladd & Bush bank. There are certainly financial connections between Salem and Astoria that might be interesting to learn more about.
For more on the fire see:
- Walking tour and discussion of the fire by the Lower Columbia Preservation Society, and a photo gallery at the Clatsop County Historical Society.
- A panel discussion tonight at Fort George Brewery, "The 1922 Astoria Fire: 100 Years Later."
- And a feature at OPB, "Astoria's Great Fire of 1922."
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