Cannon Beach City Map Poster

About Cannon Beach

The city is also known for its beaches, microbreweries and art galleries. Cannon Beach was named after the cannon that were fired on Fort Astoria in 1811 by explorer David Thompson as a signal to American traders at Fort Astoria (now Oregon City) that he had found the mouth of the Columbia River. The first European-American settler was Alvin T. Smith, who arrived in 1851 with his family from Illinois and built a cabin near present-day Arch Cape Road along Ecola Creek; it burned down during one of several forest fires which swept through Cannon Beach over many years until fire suppression efforts began around 1900.[6] In 1870, Captain George Flavel bought 160 acres (65 ha) including what is now downtown Cannon Beach for $1 an acre ($2/ha). He later sold 80 acres (32 ha) to Charles Pease & Co., who platted it as "Pease's Addition" on October 6, 1890.