1. Astoria is the first and oldest permanent United States settlement west of the Rockies.

2. Astoria was once the second largest city in Oregon.

3. The 4.1-mile Astoria-Megler Bridge, which connects Washington with Oregon, is the longest continuous truss span in North America.

4. Fort Clatsop is the oldest United States military fort on the West Coast. In 2005, a replica of the Lewis and Clark expeditions winter home burned to the ground. A new historically accurate structure opened to the public in 2006.

5. Fort Stevens is the only military installation in the continental United States to be fired on by a submarine since The War of 1812. Shells were discharged from a Japanese submarine during World War II. There was no damage, and Fort Stevens personnel did not return fire.

6. Called The Graveyard of the Pacific, the Columbia River Bar has claimed 2,000 vessels and 700 lives.

7. One-fourth of Astorias homes are eligible for Historic Landmark status.

8. The region has more historical markers than any other place in the state of Oregon.

9. Downtown businesses were first built on pilings over the Columbia Rivers edge. Nearly all of downtown Astoria was destroyed in a fire in 1922. Fill dirt was added before the downtown was rebuilt. Any flat land you see in Astoria is most likely fill.

10. The first movie made in Oregon, The Fishermans Bride (1909) was filmed in Astoria.

11. In 1984, Goonies was the first major motion picture to be shot in Astoria. Since then, Astoria has been the setting for Short Circuit (1985), Benji, The Hunted (1986), Come See The Paradise (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1992), both Free Willy movies (1992, 1994), The Ring Two (2005), Cthulhu (2005), The Guardian (2006), and Into the Wild (2007).

12. Clark Gable performed at The Astoria Theater in the summer of 1922 before becoming famous in Hollywood. The theater no longer exists.