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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2020)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly www.thecolumbiapress.com January 24, 2020 County makes progress on preparedness Getting a grip on history Warrenton takes stock of its downtown district in hopes of preserving the gems The Columbia Press Last month, the county’s Emergency Management Department quietly moved into new quarters. Clatsop County Emergency Services is now housed at Camp Rilea, renting office space from the Ore- gon Military Depart- ment adjacent to the regional Emergency Operations Center. The EOC was built in 2013 with Homeland Brown Security funds follow- ing the devastating December 2007 storm that brought hur- ricane-force winds, knocking out power and communications in the region, top- pling trees in the forest like toothpicks and cutting off highway access. A growing county staff, one of them designated for Emergency Management, presented the blessing-in-disguise need for the department to move from the county offices at 800 Exchange St. in As- toria. “They needed space and we’d gotten bigger,” explained Tiffany Brown, Emer- gency Management director. So much has changed in the dozen years since the Oregon Coast got its emergency fanny walloped. “There’s so much to be done that you don’t always feel like you’re making progress,” Brown said. A huge achievement was evident in June, when the Navy conducted an emer- gency landing drill on Sunset Beach, us- ing a gigantic hovercraft. The county’s emergency management staff and a wide array of volunteers and auxiliary communications teams kicked into gear. Warrenton CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), AuxComm See ‘Prepared’ on Page 4 Vol. 4, Issue 4 B y C indy y ingst The Columbia Press Above: The old post office, barber shop and former Columbia Press office then and now. Below: Photos of Maize’s Market and to- day’s Main Street Market. Right : The Donut Hole circa 1950 and Arnie’s Cafe. Historical photos courtesy Warrenton-Hammond Historical Society. Current photos by Cindy Yingst. When a small city experiences a big building boom, it’s a good idea to take inventory of what’s already there. Warrenton initiated a historical properties inventory of downtown late last year. And there are plenty of gems in the jewelry box. “People can have strong feelings about the labeling of the land they live on,” Mayor Henry Balensifer said when asked about the survey. “Human events aren’t just about the humans – it’s also very much tied to place and I want to be sensitive to that while being true to history.” The survey was conducted by the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office. It found one property eligible for the National Register of Histor- ic Places and 12 others were deter- mined to be eligible as contributors to the city’s history. At the Columbia Press, we’re fasci- nated to learn that the one building receiving the top honor is the city’s first post office, built in 1905 at 45 N.E. Harbor Court (between Warrenton Deep Sea Market and the ministorage at the four-way stop). In addition to the post office, it later served as a barber shop and, from 1978 to 1990, as offices of The Columbia Press. But it ain’t pretty and is in danger of demolition through neglect. “It is one of only two buildings that remain from Warrenton’s earliest commercial strip along the north side of Harbor Court,” the survey’s authors wrote. “The other, at 87 N.E. Harbor Court, has lost all integrity and is not eligible.” Immediate action should be taken to stabilize the building, ac- cording to the report. Historian Diane Collier grew up just down the street from the old post office, serving as barber shop in her day. “I was extremely young and, when my dad got a haircut, I’d get my hair cut, too,” Collier said. “He’d take my dad into the little side room and they’d have a shot of whisky.” Former Columbia Press owner Gary Nevan worked in the building for two years after buy- ing the newspaper in 1988. “I had the opportunity See ‘History’ on Page 5