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History · Astoria

Astoria’s post office opened in 1900, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1920.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Astoria began

When was Astoria founded?

1900

The Astoria post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 221 in 19202020 census: 132126 years
Founding year: the first Astoria post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Astoria’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Astoria are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Astoria’s homes were built before 1943.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Astoria’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Astoria’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Astoria came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Astoria.

Read it all →

Astoria was platted in 1900. The town was named after Astoria, Oregon. A post office has been in operation at Astoria since 1900.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Astoria, 1900 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Astoria post office opens
  3. 1926Born hereT. Loren Christianson is born here
  4. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Astoria on the map, 1970 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Astoria. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Astoria on the 1970 USGS mapAstoria on the 1985 USGS map1970Astoria sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Astoria.

People over time

Astoria, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 231

Between 132 and 231 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Astoria’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Astoria’s history

What year was Astoria founded?

The Astoria post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.