Hiya Gang, Baxter here. Besides being super excited about ice cream, custard, and froyo I'm also pumped about entering Sandy's Art Deco contest for the first time. I knew that I had to do my best to find some cool Art Deco. I went out to the Northern Oregon Coast (Seaside and Astoria) to find my Art Deco treasures. Of course, I need to choose one of the three buildings to enter.
First up is 210 Broadway Street.
Check out the bold color, the slick lines, and the nice curb appeal. Originally, it was the....well the research assistant could not find the original owner, tenant of the building. It's probably part of the Gilbert District build after the great fire of 1912. Otherwise than that, all we could find is that it was probably built in 1924 at the very beginning of the Art Deco period.
The other major art deco building is across the street from this one. It's currently the Funland Arcade. Similar design to my previous building (210 Broadway) and what the only noticeable difference is the vertical sign.
This arcade is still going strong, it was started in 1929 (yes, you read that right) and has been operating since (in the same location). Fascination the game, has been played at Funland since the start (there are fewer than a dozen fascination parlors left). It was super popular in teh 1920s and basically it's an interactive bingo.
If you go to Funland, you must play fascination. Check out this video from a few years ago.
Pretty cool eh?
Sequoia has had enough of the Art Deco buildings in Seaside and demands a long walk on the beach.
Off to our next stop. Astoria, Oregon. Home of the Goonies, Short Circuit, and Kindergarten Cop, Graveyard of the Pacific and one big Art Deco(ish) Masterpiece the Hotel Astor. Okay, okay I know the Hotel Astor is technically gothic but it does have some good Art Deco(ish) style.
As I'm sure everyone know this but in case you forgot and get on Jeopardy sometime soon. Astoria, Oregon, is named after John Jacob Astor, whose Pacific Fur Company established a trading post there in 1811. This post, Fort Astoria, became the first permanent U.S. settlement on the Pacific coast.
Here's a professional photo of the same building.
Anywho, the Hotel Astor in Astoria, now officially known as the John Jacob Astor Hotel, was built in 1922–23 in the wake of a devastating fire and opened on January 1, 1924 as the tallest building on the Oregon Coast.
It struggled financially and was renamed in 1951 before being condemned in 1968, it was restored in the mid-1980s as low-income housing with commercial space on the first two floors.
No detail is too small for this building.
I tried to get into the lobby (it looked cool) but being that its apartments now the doors were locked and no one let me in. Cool tiles eh?
This bear is tired and hungry, oh look a bakery in the building. Perfect.
Phoeey, it's closed today. However, I found the custard king (and there was no line).
The Northern Oregon Coastal cities did not disapoint for Art Deco architecture.
