Ghosts at the Astoria Column, Astoria, OR

For the last 100 years, the one-of-a-kind, 125-foot Astoria Column has stood on top of Coxcomb Hill, overlooking the Columbia River and welcoming visitors from all over the world.

This historical landmark was dedicated by the Great Northern Railway in 1926, with financial help from Vincent Astor {1891–1959}, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor {1763–1848}, after whom Astoria was named.

The beautiful artwork on the column, which tells the history of the area in 14 scenes, was created by Italian artist Attilio Pusterla {1862–1941} using a painting technique called sgraffito.

Restoration work has been done several times over the years in order to preserve and protect this magnificent landmark.

In 1988, the Friends of Astoria Column, a nonprofit group, was formed to do just that.

Astoria Column was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

After climbing the 164 steps to the top to check out the unbelievable view, it turns out that I wasn't the only one there who likes the view.

I did an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session and got an immediate response on the voice recorder.

A female spirit responded with, "I like the view," and she wasn't there when it was built. She was happy to talk to someone.

Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren picked up a friendly older male spirit who had been a caretaker there but had not lived in the caretaker's house. However, he had been there for a long time, possibly before the column was built. He was talking about a family being there. He plays with the staircase railing to make noise. Nobody really listens to him, but they know he is there. He tries to get people's attention.

He also said that "they" didn't bury him right, which didn't make him very happy.

Jennifer also picked up a depressed female spirit who is not totally stable, as well as a child. The child likes to roam around and play there. They both also like to make noise. The female spirit actively haunts the location a lot.

The three spirits are not related. The child seems to be from the '50s or '60s.

Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren was seeing a time period when there was a building next to the column.

Looking at the old pictures, you can see a small building by the column in 1926 when they were building it.

I was told that they were selling coffee and gifts from it, but it was not there in the 1930s pictures.

The caretaker's house didn't come until later, possibly in the 1950s, when they connected two separate 1930s buildings that had been moved there from elsewhere.

If you live in the area, be sure to join the July 18 100-year anniversary celebration to see this amazing landmark and go fly a balsa wood airplane from the top of the column. Also, be sure to check out astoriacolumn.org for great information about the column.

I want to thank the Heritage Museum, the gift shop employees, and Chad Gallup from the Astoria Underground Tours for information and help. Be sure to check out the Underground Tours when you're in town.

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