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Photo, Print, Drawing Gillnet Fishing Vessel Thresher, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR OR 263 EH

[ Drawings from Survey HAER OR-172  ]

More Resources

[ Data Pages from Survey HAER OR-172  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HAER OR-172  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Gillnet Fishing Vessel Thresher, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR

Other Title

  • OR 263 EH

Names

  • Historic American Engineering Record, creator
  • Swenson, Tom
  • Fastabend, Don
  • Blix, Marvel
  • Blix Boat Works
  • Astoria Marine Construction Company
  • Blix, Sigurd
  • Morse Industries
  • Apex Equipment, Inc.
  • Chrysler
  • Blix, Sankey
  • Datamarine
  • Interphase
  • Capree
  • Clatsop Community College Historic Preservation Program, historian
  • Columbia River Maritime Museum, sponsor
  • Clatsop Community College, sponsor
  • Council of American Maritime Museums, sponsor
  • Swerdloff, Lucien, project manager
  • Croteau, Todd A., project manager
  • Johnson, Sam, project assistant
  • Nice, Brian, field team
  • Espelund, Dale, field team
  • Trenner, Gary, II, field team
  • Dreke, Adam, field team
  • Dahlen, Leslye, field team
  • Wessinger, Joseph, field team
  • Zimmerman, Larissa, field team
  • Reynolds, Earl, field team
  • Brown, Randy, field team
  • Marsh, Peter, field team
  • Weilepp, Bruce, field team
  • Croteau, Todd A., photographer
  • Christianson, Justine, transmitter
  • Oregon Cultural Trust, sponsor
  • Mike Wollaston/Ewing Street Moorings, sponsor
  • Jackson Foundation, sponsor
  • James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, sponsor
  • Traditional Small Craft Association, sponsor
  • Barbey, Anne, sponsor
  • Lankton, Helena Barbey, sponsor
  • Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Lawrence III, sponsor
  • Buckmaster, Bruce, sponsor
  • Buckmaster, Lynn, sponsor
  • Thayer, James B., Sr., sponsor
  • Smith, Emmett, field team
  • HLB Otak, sponsor
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter
  • Stranieri, Marcella, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1968

Headings

  • -  maritime
  • -  fishing vessels
  • -  fishing
  • -  nets (objects)
  • -  propellers
  • -  pilot houses
  • -  Oregon--Clatsop County--Astoria

Latitude / Longitude

  • 46.144472,-123.861598

Notes

  • -  Significance: Part of an ongoing project to document the evolution of the Columbia River gillnet boat, Thresher is an example of a square-sterned sternpicker (with reel) with V-8 engine. Thresher, designed and built by the Blix brothers, is an early version of a sternpicker (compared to the traditional Columbia River bowpicker). It has a shallow, V-chined wood hull giving it the potential to plane. It can be considered a transitional stage boat between traditional full-displacement hulls and modern high-speed boats.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1537
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1924
  • -  Survey number: HAER OR-172
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1968-1970 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1990 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Photo(s): 7
  • Measured Drawing(s): 3
  • Data Page(s): 11
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HAER OR-172

Source Collection

  • Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • or0596

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

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Obtaining Copies

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Engineering Record, Creator, Tom Swenson, Don Fastabend, Marvel Blix, Blix Boat Works, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Sigurd Blix, et al., Croteau, Todd A, photographer. Gillnet Fishing Vessel Thresher, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR. Oregon Astoria Clatsop County, 1968. translateds by Christianson, Justinemitter, Mcpartland, Marymitter, and Stranieri, Marcellamitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/or0596/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Engineering Record, C., Swenson, T., Fastabend, D., Blix, M., Blix Boat Works, Astoria Marine Construction Company [...] Hlb Otak, S., Croteau, T. A., photographer. (1968) Gillnet Fishing Vessel Thresher, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR. Oregon Astoria Clatsop County, 1968. Christianson, J., McPartland, M. & Stranieri, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/or0596/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Engineering Record, Creator, et al., photographer by Croteau, Todd A. Gillnet Fishing Vessel Thresher, Astoria Marine Construction Company, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR. trans by Christianson, Justinemitter, Mcpartland, Marymitter, and Stranieri, Marcellamitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/or0596/>.