A8 • Friday, March 15, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
HISTORY AND HOPS
When logging ruled
in Clatsop County
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
Logging towns are an
integral part of Clatsop
County’s history and sev-
eral descendants of these
once economically and
culturally relevant towns
still live within the com-
munities, bearing recol-
lections and stories of
bygone days.
During a History and
Hops event Feb. 28, ama-
teur historian and author
Jim Aalberg shared the
histories of sawmill com-
pany towns such as West-
port, Wauna and Brad-
wood, which he wrote
about in his recent
book, “Historical Com-
pany Towns of Clatsop
County.” As with Aal-
berg’s fi rst book, “West-
port Oregon: Home of
the Big Sticks and Gold
Medal Salmon,” Aalberg
has given ownership and
rights of “Historical Com-
pany Towns” to the Clat-
sop County Historical
Society.
To write the book, Aal-
berg, a fourth-generation
Oregonian and the great-
great-great grandson of
Westport’s founder Cpt.
John West, relied on old
trade publications, court
records, newspaper arti-
cles, censuses, and other
documentation,
along
with more than 100 pho-
tographs and illustrations.
He also interviewed doz-
ens of people who grew
up in the once fl ourishing
logging and mill towns.
The stories they shared
highlight a history that
defi es common percep-
tions of company towns
as sources for economic
slavery and instead con-
jure images of an idyl-
lic, albeit hardworking,
existence.
The
companies
actively recruited employ-
ees to come work in the
towns—married men pre-
ferred, bachelors not pre-
ferred, and drinkers unac-
ceptable, according to old
advertisements. The com-
panies provided homes for
the employees, along with
other institutions, such as
churches, schools, librar-
ies, and hospitals, Aalberg
said, adding, “They had to
Katherine Lacaze
Jim Aalberg, a fourth-
generation
Oregonian
and the great-great-great
grandson of Westport’s
founder, Cpt. John West,
shared stories from his
book, “Historical Company
Towns of Clatsop County.”
be nice communities.”
These
communities
organized baseball teams,
held dances, formed
bands, and had other
sources of entertainment,
as well. Occasionally, the
companies would provide
social gatherings for the
employees and their fami-
lies, as captured by a 1929
photograph depicting a
group reveling in Sea-
side for the day, picnick-
ing and taking bi-plane
fl ights.
People and events of
Westport’s history
Westport was operat-
ing for about 120 years,
from 1852 to 1972, mak-
ing it the longest contin-
uous sawmilling loca-
tion in Oregon’s history.
Westport also was the site
of the state’s fi rst salmon
cannery and originated
the oldest American salm-
on-canning brand still in
existence, although the
label was sold and the
product is now canned by
a company in Liverpool. It
was the only location with
a skid-row tunnel built to
haul logs down from the
hill using oxen.
As Aalberg shared, the
history is rife with inter-
esting characters, such
as Charles McGuire, an
employee who married
Ellen West, the youngest
daughter of John West.
When she died, McGuire
married her sister, Jane
West.
“With Jane, he picked
up all of John West’s real
estate properties he had in
downtown Astoria,” Aal-
berg said.
R.J. Marx
Property to be developed for a Grocery Outlet in Seaside.
Grocery Outlet wins planning approval
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
With a new plan to widen
and restripe the roadway, the
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion gave its unanimous OK
Tuesday, March 5, for a new
18,000-square-foot Grocery
Outlet.
A 175-foot-long “turn
pocket” along U.S. Highway
101 southbound into Avenue
N will satisfy the state Depart-
ment of Transportation and
the Planning Commission’s
requirement for a left-turn
lane, representatives of Main
& Main Capital Group said
on behalf of Grocery Outlet.
The turn pocket will be
developed before the new
store opens
“What we’ve done over
the last month is worked with
ODOT to come up with some-
thing that will work,” Main &
Main’s Dan Dover said.
According to Kevin Cup-
ples, the city’s planning direc-
tor, ODOT emailed approval
of the plan shortly before
Tuesday’s public hearing.
The Planning Commission
originally approved the appli-
cation in November, but it
came with a high price: a con-
dition of no left turns in or out
of the property.
With an estimated 1,300
daily trips anticipated, com-
missioners were wary of
adding to already long traf-
fi c backups, especially in the
‘IT IS A SOLUTION, AND ODOT
SEEMS HAPPY WITH IT. I’M ALWAYS
RETICENT TO DO THESE THINGS,
BUT I THINK THE CONDITIONS
HAVE BEEN MET HERE.’
Chris Hoth, Planning Commission chairman
Main & Main Capital
Proposed site of Grocery Outlet in Seaside.
summer.
Developers would have
needed to come up with the
full cost of an estimated $3
million to add the turn lane.
Main & Main appealed to
the City Council, arguing that
the cost of the turn lane would
exceed the cost to build the
store.
In February, the City
Council sent the application
back to the Planning Com-
mission with one instruction:
make left-turn requirements
proportional to the project
cost.
The revised proposal, pre-
pared by the developer’s traf-
fi c engineer, satisfi es both the
City Council and the con-
cern related to safety and traf-
fi c impacts, attorney Dave
Phillips said on behalf of the
developer.
While it is a “Band-Aid”
fi x, Chris Hoth, the Planning
Commission chairman, said
“it is a solution, and ODOT
seems happy with it. I’m
always reticent to do these
things, but I think the condi-
tions have been met here.”
Even with the approval,
a new challenge to the City
Council may be in the works.
After the meeting, Karl
Anuta, an attorney for Protect
Pacifi c Northwest, called the
Planning Commission’s pro-
cess “improper.”
“The Planning Commis-
sion looked at, relied on and
adopted a document that was
never given to the public
before this hearing,” Anuta
said, referring to the ODOT
email.
He said he plans to con-
duct a traffi c analysis of the
revised plan.
“If this in fact solves the
problem, we won’t be oppos-
ing,” Anuta said. “But I can’t
tell you right now whether
that’s going to be the case or
not.”
Dover, meanwhile, looked
to the future in a process that
has already stretched almost a
year.
“I’m happy we got the
approval,”
Dover
said.
“We’re ready to go after all
the appeals periods expire.”
SEASIDE SPORTS
Baker win ends Seaside girl’s season
Seaside Signal
Baker led 19-5 after one
quarter, and cruised from
there for a 67-31 win over vis-
iting Seaside, in a fi rst round
game of the 4A girls basket-
ball state playoffs March 2.
The Gulls played evenly
with the Bulldogs in the sec-
ond quarter, but Baker out-
scored Seaside 24-8 in the
third, as the Bulldogs’ press-
ing defense fi nally got to the
Gulls.
“We knew looking at fi lm
that Baker was a talented
squad with a number of good
players, and that they would
challenge us with their tempo
on both ends of the court,”
said Seaside coach Mike
Hawes.
“The fi rst quarter they
came out fi ring and we had
to be near perfect,” he said.
“We actually had quite a few
opportunities but didn’t cash
in.”
The Gulls had 11 turn-
overs in the fi rst quarter.
“They man pressed, dou-
Katie Zagata, right, and Trinity Turner, left, go for the ball in a December tournament game.
bled and pressured,” Hawes
said. “We just asked so
much of Lilli (Taylor) and
Emy (Kiser), that they got
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fatigued. They pressed us to
the bitter end and we played
hard throughout. What a great
opportunity for our seniors,
and they played their all.”
Taylor scored 11 points
and eight rebounds, and Kiser
had 10 points.
“Baker and others got
their opportunities this year,
but I got a feeling man pres-
suring us in the coming years
might not be wise,” Hawes
said. “Lilli will continue to be
get better, fi nish stronger and
have more stamina.”
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