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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2022
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Lissa Brewer
lbrewer@dailyastorian.com
Peter Korchnak
A sign in Astoria’s Shively-
McClure neighborhood
pays tribute to the city’s
working class immigrants,
including Yugoslavians.
From the Adriatic
to the Pacific
Tracing the history
of Astoria’s Eastern
European immigrant
communities
By PETER KORCHNAK
For The Astorian
Atop a staircase on 15th street in Astoria sits a tribute to
the city’s working class foundations, including a mention of
the local Eastern European immigrant communities.
As Astoria’s fi shing and canning industries boomed at
the turn of the 20th century, area businesses employed a
growing number of immigrant workers, including many
from coastal areas near the Adriatic Sea. Croatian fi sher-
men established villages along the Columbia River, includ-
ing Clifton, near Westport. Among these was gillnetter
Peter Dorcich, who in 1904 launched a decades long record
of a single day’s catch, netting 4,495 pounds of Chinook
salmon.
By 1914, voters born in
Austria composed 3% of
all foreign- born Astorians,
about the same share as
Danish and English immi-
grants. Many ethnic Croa-
tians listed Austria as their
country of origin on offi cial
documents, but were also
referred to as Yugoslavians.
Emerging from the Aus-
tro-Hungarian Empire after
World War I, Yugoslavia
was a convenient, if inaccu-
rate, regional tie. However,
many found this greater
regional identity to provide
a sense of unity.
Eastern European immi-
grants in Astoria settled pri-
marily around Scow Bay,
between 16th and 23rd
streets. While most plied
the fi shing trade, some
changed occupations or
started businesses.
Dominic Pincetich, who
came to the region from
the island of Vis at age 14
in 1899, quit fi shing after a
few seasons to pursue sales.
Peter Korchnak
Around the same time,
Djordje Čitović owns the Rosebriar Mansion in Astoria.
immigrant Martin Francis-
covich ran restaurants and
saloons in Astoria and Sea-
side, as well as a wholesale liquor business, after spending
years in the fi shing industry.
At the dawn of Prohibition, Franciscovich wrote an open
letter to his fellow Astorians, thanking them for a quarter
century of patronage. However, in 1925, the Franciscovich
family opened a new saloon at the corner of 15th Street and
Marine Drive. There, the building, designed by architect
John E. Wicks, still proudly bears the family name. A bike
shop for many years, it now houses a music store.
Meanwhile, the Andrich family moved to Astoria from
Sutter Creek, California, joining over a dozen other Croa-
tian families. Their son, Joe, later operated a grocery store,
as did fellow Croatians Antone Marincovich and Larry
Gelalich. Larry Cosovich, known to many for his friendly
greetings, was rescued at the age of 14 from the Great
Republic ship when it wrecked at Sand Island in 1879. His
son, Peter Cosovich, was a long time owner of the Astoria
Stationery Company and four-time president of the local
chamber of commerce.
As a mayoral candidate, he was an early booster for Asto-
ria tourism, advocating to develop attractions like the Flavel
Former Astoria Mayor Peter Cosovich greeting naval offi cer
William Leggett Jr. on a May 1954 visit to Tongue Point.
House Museum. He served two terms as mayor of Astoria
between 1951 and 1958. His family home, also designed by
Wicks, still stands at the corner of Lexington A venue and
Pacifi c S treet.
As the 20th century progressed, business held strong.
Pete Vukovich co-owned, along with Italian immigrant
George Celsi, a car dealership at the corner of 14th Street
and Marine Drive. The upper fl oors housed offi ces and pent-
house apartments. Liisa Penner, archivist at Clatsop County
Historical Society, was one of the building’s tenants. “I
loved the family, they were wonderful people,” Penner said.
Over time, area Croatians and their families moved
away, died out or assimilated. Many with last names end-
ing in -ich are descendants of Austrian Croatians. Take the
Marincovichs. In 1987, Jack Marincovich was named to the
Columbia River Maritime Museum board of trustees.
Today, two Astorians boast an -ić name in its original
form and continue the business tradition. Djordje Čitović
co-owns, with his wife Trudy, Fire Station Yoga and the
Rosebriar Mansion. Čitović’s parents, Serbian immigrants
from Yugoslavia, raised him to think of himself as Yugo-
slavian. He fi rst spotted the 15th Street plaque on a visit to
Astoria in 2017. “I was pretty amazed,” Čitović said of the
recognition. “As far as I know, it was mainly people in the
fi shing industry that were coming here.”
Fordinka Kanlić, who owns Drina Daisy restaurant
in Astoria, is a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hear-
ing about the city’s Eastern European immigrants, Croa-
tian fi shermen of Clifton come to her mind. “They’re long
gone,” Kanlić said. She now believes she is the only Astoria
resident born in the country of Yugoslavia.