Astoria's underground is something that totally intrigues me. I would love to get in there and have a look around, but every obvious and visible entry has been blocked with gates and padlocks. The stores that had trap-doors to the underground have covered them to protect themselves from burglary. Seems like the new owners of the buildings don't know where the entries are or are totally and blithely unaware there even is an Astoria underground.On the way to the public bathrooms on Exchange Street, I keep peeking down while at the corner of Exchange and 12th Street just before the Clark Gable plaque. At ground level, there are locked gates at the southwest corner of the hospice. They cover what was clearly an entryway to the underground. I went around and down to ground level by the hospice, and there are gates at the northwest end of the building, too. I only wish I had a flashlight with me so I could have peeked in and seen more.
From there, I walked across the lot over to the ramp off 13th Street that goes down into that lot. If you go way up under the ramp, it looks like it might still be an entryway there. There are boards over it, and it would be a crawlway, but I did not get close enough to check the boards out to see how loose they are. I'm inclined to think it's an entrance, though, because I saw a backpack tucked out of plain sight under the ramp, and several beer bottles.
I heard a rumor in a local tavern that runaway kids are hiding out under Astoria. When I questioned the lady who was talking, she said her son knows the way in, and goes in there regularly just for the hell of it. I went where she told me, and yup, a person could definitely get in there, but not easily.
At that point, my common sense got the better of me, and I didn't go in. And I don't think I would, by myself, anyway. It's probably pretty dangerous under there, but that only adds to the allure. Maybe I just have an unhealthy fascination for worlds lost, underground, or out of use.
There's a fascinating web site about people who take this obsession to the extreme, i.e. breaking in to abandoned places/tunnels and photographing them as a record that they've been there. They call themselves "urban explorers," or "urban spelunkers," and one of their more skin-crawly sites is Dark Passage, which has a plethora of sub-sites and links.
Wonder if they'd be interested in checking out Astoria ...
8 comments:
Trust me. You don't want to visit underground Astoria.
But, if it's absolutely necessary, use an experienced guide such as myself.
Signed;
One who knows the way around.
Ah he who trys to find the day
will grow and want to say
take me down under me lad
wipe the tears that are sad
For life in Astoria is rich with rust
for many leave in a pile of dust
from the Locker
I've been there once, accessed under the Liberty. There is a big room under the entrance where the ticket booth is. There were signs there from when the Liberty ran X rated films. Anyway, there is a door that leads to the underground. It was pretty large with pipes and cables running all around. Not a play ground at all.
Thanks for the comments and the most interesting poem ...
Sometime I'll get down there, as sooner or later I'll get the chance. A pal told me (he grew up here) that there are also old run-down store-fronts down there from before the 1922 fire.
A carpenter pal of mine was working in someone's basement, and found a trap-door that dropped down to a room that connected by tunnel to the underground. Actually, we think my house has one of those too, as there's a tongue & groove flooring under a landslide in my top basement. Just can't afford to remove all the dirt and take a look.
I have always wondered how long it would be until the underground of our fair city would get "pimped" out to tourists, ala other 'underground' tours.
Frankly, Auntie, I'm surprised as hell that in the city, in its quest for the almighty tourist buck, didn't think of this years ago.
And hopefully, they are so busy greedily counting their loot from the Sunday Market cash cow that they never will think of it.
A couple years ago I was doing historical research on early Astoria politicos, economics and teh underground and came across an 1896 text with a number of local biographies. Three of these gentleman are supposedly key to the development of the underground. When I'm in Astoria next week, I intend to lookup Mr. Bowlby, Fox and Welch much more closely. (I found the transcriptions online.)
CLATSOP COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES
ABERCROMBIE, JOHN, of Astoria, was born at Keene, New Hampshire, April 9, 1830. He came to Oregon in 1884, locating in Astoria in the lumber industry. He is an earnest Republican and a member of the McKinley Club of Astoria. He was a delegate to the county convention of 1890, and in 1894 was elected Justice of the Peace.
BOWLBY, J. Q. A., of Astoria, was born in the city of New York, August 15, 1843. He came to Oregon in 1852 and lived on a farm in Washington County until 1868. In 1867-68 he studied law, and graduated at the Pacific University at Forest Grove in 1867. He then went to Portland, and a year later went to Astoria as Deputy Collector of Customs, and held that office six years. He then took up the practice of law in that city, having been admitted to the bar in 1874. Mr. Bowlby was elected County Judge in 1876 and again in 1878. He has been almost continuously a member of conventions and an earnest Republican worker. He has been a member of the City Council, a School Director, and was for ten years president of the Astoria Chamber of Commerce.
CODY, ALBERT J., of Portland, was born at Auburn, Baker County, Oregon, November 10, 1862. A year later his parents moved to Walla Walla, where he lived till 1875. From there he went to Astoria. In 1880 he went to the Snake river country, in Eastern Washington, then lived one year at The Dalles, and then returned to Astoria. He settled in Portland in 1882, and followed the hotel business. In 1894 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff by George C. Sears, to serve under Justice Geisler, which positions he filled until a short time ago, when he was appointed on the detective force of the police department. He is an active republican and a zealous worker.
CROSBY, HON. HENRY T., of Astoria, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1846. After graduating from college he enlisted, in 1862, and was wounded at Shepardstown. He entered the war department as clerk, and in 1872 was made chief clerk. He graduated from l\the Law School of Columbia College, and was admitted to the bar in 1872. He continued to serve as chief clerk, frequently being Acting Secretary of War till 1882, when he resigned and began practicing in Washington. In 1893 he came to Oregon and located in Astoria. He was representative to the league in 1895.
CURTIS, C. J., of Astoria, and editor of the Herald, as born in Berrien County, Michigan, August 20, 1853,. He came to Oregon in 1879 and located in Portland, where he remained for years. He read law in the office of Governor A.C. Gibbs, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He went to Astoria the same year, and has since resided there, practicing law and publishing the Herald, a Republican paper. He was a delegate to the county conventions of 1884-86-99-90 and ’92, the state conventions of the same years, and the congressional convention of 1894. He was Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for eight years, and was elected City Attorney in 1890 and again in 1895. In 1894 he was elected a member of the lower house of the legislature.
ELMORE, HON. SAMUEL, proprietor and manager of the Daily Astorian, was born at Lloyd, Ulster County, New York, in 1847. His father, R. P. Elmore, at the age of eighty-four years, is still managing an extensive coal business in Milwaukee, founded in 1851. Samuel was educated in Milwaukee and at Lawrence University and Genesee College, Lima, New York. In 1864, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in the Fifty-first Wisconsin infantry, and was commissioned first lieutenant. At the close of the war he engaged in business in Milwaukee, but in 1866 went to California, and by his own exertions laid a foundation for his present business success. For a time during Grant’s administration he was Deputy Collector of Customs at Milwaukee, but soon resigned to return to California. He became interested in the Oakland Smelting & Lead Company, and later embarked in canning Columbia river salmon. Though one of the latest of the Astoria canners to embark in the business, he has the largest and most perfectly equipped salmon cannery in the world. Mr. Elmore is also proprietor and manager of the Daily Astorian. He is an ex-Mayor of Astoria, has served two terms on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the G.A. R., was a delegate to the state conventions of 1888 and 1892, was chairman of the central committee in 1892, and in 1895 was elected a delegate to the National Republican League.
FOX, JOHN, of Astoria, was born in Darlington County, Ontario, Canada, September 11, 1849, and came to Oregon in 1867. He lived in Portland till 1871, when he moved to Astoria and engaged as a machinist and engineer. He is now president and manager of the Astoria Iron Works. Mr. Fox has taken an active part in Republican affairs, especially the past ten years, during which time he has been a delegate to nearly all county conventions, and to the state convention of 1894. He was elected to the legislature in 1890, and ion 1894 was the Republican nominee for the State Senate. He was a member of the City Council in 1889, 1890 and 1891, and a School Director in 1890-91-92. He was made one of the State Board of Pilot Commissioners by the legislature of 1893, and was elected president of the Board, which position he still holds.
FULTON, HON. CHARLES W., an attorney of Astoria, has occupied a prominent position in the Republican party the past twenty years. He has been a member of the county, district and state conventions almost constantly, of county central committees, of the state central committee, and the league conventions. He was chairman of the state conventions in 1882, and of the Second District Convention in 1896. In 1888 he was a delegate to the national convention, and in 1892 a Presidential Elector. In 1894 he was elected a delegate to the National League. In 1890 he was elected to the state senate, and in the session of 1893 was president of the body. He has taken a prominent part as a campaign speaker. He received strong support for nomination for Governor in 1894, and United States Senator in 1895.
FULTON, DR. J. A., of Astoria, was born in Harrison County, Iowa, January 3, 1858. He came to Oregon in 1883 and located in Astoria in practice of medicine. He is an active worker in the Republican ranks. He was a delegate to the county conventions of 1884-86-88 and ’90, chairman of the county central committee in 1888, and is chairman of the city committee. In 1895 he was appointed Health Officer at that place.
GRAY, HON. JOHN H. D., County Judge of Clatsop County, was born at Lapwai, Idaho, March 20, 1839. Most of his boyhood was passed at Astoria. He graduated from the Forest Grove University in 1857. In 1858 he went to British Columbia and engaged in steam boating on Fraser River. In 1861 he was one of two survivors when the steamer Cariboo blew up near Victoria. He than began steamboating on the Upper Columbia and Snake rivers, and followed that business for many years, making Astoria his home since 1868. He has been extremely active in promoting enterprises for the building up of Astoria and the opening of the Columbia river and improvement of its mouth. Politically he is a staunch Republican, and has been in the councils of the party for many years. In 1886 he was elected to the state senate, and served two terms. He is now County Judge of Clatsop County.
HARE, JAMES W., of Astoria, Sheriff of Clatsop County, was born in Barnesville, Ohio, September 8, 1857. In 1872 he began steamboating on the Ohio, and later engaged in railroading. He came to Oregon and was engages in steamboating and kindred pursuits, and was Chief Engineer of the Astoria Fire Department five years and Postmaster four years. In 1894 he was elected Sheriff, and is again nominated for the office. He has been a frequent member of conventions and league meetings.
LA FORCE, WILLIAM M,. an attorney of Astoria, was born in Carthage, Missouri, September 11, 1853. Went to Greene County, Illinois, in 1861, but returned to Carthage in 1866. In 1873 he began teaching school and entered the University of Missouri in 1874, graduating in 1880. Was principal of the high school at Carrollton, Illinois, in 1880, and at Carthage, Missouri, from 1881 to 1883, when he was admitted to the bar, and began practicing at Carthage. In 1884 he was secretary of the congressional central committee, and in 1885 was elected secretary of the congressional central committee, and in 1885 was elected City Attorney. He soon removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he took an active part in politics as a Republican till 1892, where he came to Oregon and began practicing in Astoria.
MCGREGOR, W. F., president of the Astoria Box Company, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 8, 1859. He came to Oregon in July, 1876, locating in Astoria. He has been a delegate to every county convention for he past fourteen yeas, and to the state conventions of 1890, 1892, and 1894. He has been a member of the city, county, and state central committees, and secretary of the first two. He served as School Director from 1886 to 1892, and was clerk of the board. He has served three years as Councilman, and is now serving his second term of three years, and is President of the Council.
NEWPORT, N. M., a prominent attorney of Albany, was born at Buffalo, Missouri, March 12, 1864, and came to Oregon in 1880, locating in Astoria. He graduated from the literary department of the Willamette University in 1890, and the law department in 1892. The same years he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Albany. He was Justice of the Peace in 1891-92, and was elected City Attorney in 1894. He was one of the prime movers in organizing the Albany Republican Club, and was a delegate to the league in 1896. In 1894 he was a member of the county convention, and stumped the county for the successful ticket.
PARRISH, CHARLES W., an attorney of Canyon City, was born in Clatsop County, Oregon, in 1844. Mr. Parrish was admitted to the bar, and in 1868 was appointed Deputy District Attorney in Multnomah County. In 1870 he was elected County Clerk of Multnomah, and was then Deputy District Attorney again, till he went to the Malheur Indian Agency, as Commissary, in 1874, since when he has lived in Grant County. He was a delegate to the Grant County convention six times, to the state convention in 1892, and the congressional and state conventions in 1894. He was chairman of the county central committee in 1888, 1894, and 1896, member of the district committee in 1892, and is now a member of the state committee. He is a delegate to the national convention at St. Louis. In 1895 he was appointed District Attorney for the Ninth District, and is now the nominee for that position.
TAYLOR, HON. FRANK J., of Astoria, was born in Clatsop County, May 11, 18 51, and has resided there continuously. He graduated from the Law School of Union University, Albany, New York, in June, 1873, and in September was admitted to the bar and began practice in Astoria. Judge Taylor was elected Recorder in 1875 and Police Judge in 1876, serving two and one-half years. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature. HE was elected Circuit Judge to fill a vacancy in 1884, and again for a full term in 1886. In 1895 he was elected Mayor of Astoria. He was a delegate to county conventions from 1874 to 1884, to state conventions 1874 to 1882 and 1894 and 1896, to congressional conventions in 1894 and 1896, and league meetings in 1895 and 1896.
TRULLINGER, HON. J. C., of Astoria, was born in Fountain County, Indiana, July 29, 1828, and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1848. He went to the California mines in 1849, returned in 1850, built a warehouse in Milwaukie, and in 1852 settled on a farm near Oswego. In 1865 he laid out the town of Oswego. In 1870 he founded the town of Centerville, where he had saw and flour mills. In 1875 he built the West Shore mills in Astoria, and has twelve acres covered with saw mills, warehouses, etc. From 1876 to 1880 his plant was run as a cannery. He erected the city electric light plant in 1885. He has been president of the Board of Police Commissioners, Member of the Council and Mayor of Astoria and in 1892 was elected to the legislature. He helped organize the Republican party in Oregon, and has been a foremost worker ever since.
WATSON, C. B., of Ashland, was born at the town of Time, Illinois, November 25, 1849. He was raised on a farm, with only the benefits of a county district school for a few months in the year. At an early age he had the responsibility of a large family, while his father was at the front fighting for the Union. In 1871 he came to Oregon, where he began to study law, and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court in 1877. Mr. Watson was one of the Garfield electors in 1880, and carried the vote of Oregon to Washington. For many years he was one of the Republican stumpers of the state. In January, 1882, he became Collector of Customs for the district of Southern Oregon, which office he held until the Cleveland administration. He then resigned and removed to Astoria, where he served as Deputy District Attorney for three years, and then located in Ashland. Mr. Watson is one of the leading lawyers of Southern Oregon. He is a graceful and versatile writer, and has been quite prominent in journalistic work at different times within the last twenty years, his contributions on political topics, mountain outlining and geological studies being highly prized by newspapers and periodicals of first rant. He is a ready and fluent speaker, and his services in this line are in frequent demand in social meetings, political conventions, and by literary and educational institutions.
WELCH, HON. J. W., of Astoria, was born in Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa, July 7, 1842, and came to Oregon two years later with his father, James Welch, who, in 1846, was the first white man with a family to locate on the site of Astoria. James W. went to the Idaho mines in 1862, but in 1864 returned to Astoria and engaged in packing salmon. In 1871 he went to Umatilla and engaged in stock business, but the next year established a truck and ray business in Astoria. In 1875 he became Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue at Walla Walla. In 1877 he returned to Astoria and built a system of water works for the city, remaining manager of the system till sold to the city in 1892. Mr. Welch has served as City Marshal, School Director and member of the Council. In 1890 he was elected to the legislature.
Oregon Republican League, Republican League Register of Oregon, The Register Publishing Company, 1896, transcription by Tony Larson.
Fabulous! Thanks for the history lesson. And if you find out more about the underground, please let me know!
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