History and Political Science: Local Resources

The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum “is a community-based organization," the purpose of which is to preserve and interpret the heritage of the Columbia Pacific region, including the lower Columbia River and adjacent coastal areas of southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon, with a special emphasis on the Columbia’s north shore, the Long Beach Peninsula and vicinity of Willapa Bay in Pacific County, Washington.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum specializes in collecting and exhibiting maritime artifacts from the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest.

As one of the best preserved examples of Queen Anne architecture in the Northwest, the Flavel House survives today as a landmark of local and national significance. The house was built in 1884-85, for Captain George Flavel and his family.

The Hanthorn Cannery is the oldest fish processing plant remaining on the lower Columbia River. Our facility houses a collection of historic equipment and documents that is second only to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in the region. Many of these resources are accessible to the public at our museum, located at what is now called Pier 39, in historic Astoria, Oregon.

Astoria's Old City Hall building, a neoclassical structure designed by prominent Portland architect Emil Schacht in 1904, is home to the Historical Society's Archive and local history museum. Clatsop County's rich and exciting history is featured in the museums's permanent and changing exhibit galleries.

Housed in the old Clatsop County Jail, the museum invites visitors to explore the films and production behind making movies in Oregon. Wander through this building that was an actual working jail (from 1914 - 1976) and the scene of the famous opening jail break from the Goonies.

An extensive collection of firefighting equipment and memorabilia from Clatsop County dating back to 1877 are on view at the Uppertown Firefighters Museum.

Access Sanbourn maps and many other historical resources.

The Ted Natt Library of the Columbia River Maritime Museum contains more than 12,500 books, periodicals, logs, ledgers, videos, manuscripts, photo albums, and other ephemera relating to local, regional, and international maritime topics, including 33,000 photos. It is open Monday and Wednesday 1:00 to 5:00 pm or by appointment.

Cumtux is the journal of the Clatsop County Historical Society. Clatsop Community College has all Cumtux issues, which circulate like books.

The Columbia - Pacific Region's news source since 1873.

Oregon Historical Quarterly from 1897 to 2018 is available in JSTOR

Index to Oregon newspapers.

This is a great collection of digitized newspapers from across the state including many from the north coast. Includes many Astoria and north coast papers dating back to the 1800s.