Astoria, OR 97103
N 46° 11.250 W 123° 49.616
10T E 436185 N 5115212
Site of the first Post Office west of the Rockies, established March 9, 1847
Waymark Code: WM4RZX
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 09/25/2008
Views: 20
On March 9, 1847, President James K. Polk appointed
John M. Shively as postmaster in Astoria, Oregon -- the first U.S. postmaster west of the Rocky Mountains. After being forced out of Astoria by the Hudson Bay Company, who actually hired a hit man to kill him, this was a triumph for Shively. He opened the post office at this location, in the
former home of a missionary named
Ezra Fisher. At the time there were only four addresses in the entire town.
Thirty years later, on July 7th, the weekly Astorian reported that the office was enlarged and provided with "an increase of lock boxes, with separate delivery windows for the ladies."
The old post office is long gone, and the small lot it occupied has become a park. There is an engraved obelisk to mark the location, and a historical marker installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The current location in use for Astoria 97103 is 750 Commercial St.
Type of structure:: Historical Marker
Current Status:: Former Historic Location
re-enter Zip Code here:: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
To post a log to an existing U.S. Post Office waymark, you will need to post a picture of the front of the building, with the name of the post office in the background if that is possible.
A description of your Post Office is required, such as when it was built, history, outstanding or unique features, population of the city or town, just do a quick internet search and find an interesting bit of information about the city or town and add it to the long description, to make it more interesting. Even just adding in the population of the area can give others an idea of how many people this post office serves. This description should be at least three sentences.
If your Post Office has any unusual or unique features that you feel others would enjoy viewing, additional pictures are always welcome.
Including your gps device in the picture is not necessary, but wouldn't be cause for disapproval, as long as all other details of your log are acceptable.