If you were a seagull in the mid 1920s, this is pretty much how Seaside would look when you took to the skies after a long day of squawking. Back when the civic layout was a bit different, this aerial view reveals the unfinished familiar parts of our beloved resort town. At the beginning of the Promenade’s existence, it was originally five thousand feet in length and its abbreviated form is pictured here. Later on, it was expanded to the full 8,000 foot boardwalk (that’s one-and-a-half miles) that we know today.
At the left side of this picture (north of the turnaround) you can see the empty lot where the classic Seaside Aquarium stands today. The Aquarium first began its days as a Natatorium and was constructed in the mid 1920s. As you can see from the cleared lots, this shot may have been taken immediately before breaking ground for construction. Right at the Turnaround you can see the old Hotel Seaside, which was replaced and reconstructed as the Shilo Oceanfront Inn in 1984.
However, if you were a seagull, from this view you would be noticing the man in the blue swallow-tailed suit standing on the Turnaround who just accidently whisked a single floret of nut brown caramel corn onto the ground.
But these days you aren’t required to grow a pair of wings or charter a biplane to get an aerial view of the Oregon coastal landscape. If you’d like to take your own personal aerial tour of Seaside and the surrounding area, Seaside Helicopter Tours runs continuous tours year round during clear weather. This modern version of the Seaside airborne shot was taken looking west towards the Pacific in the fall of 2011. Despite the opposite angle of the shot, you can immediately note the landscape changes in the foreground. Despite this evidence of the march of modernity, it’s definitely clear that our classic coastal community retains its historical charm when you’re on the ground cruising downtown or strolling the side streets.
