The Cannery

Altoona, Washington

Altoona, Washington is located along the banks of the Columbia River within a couple of miles of the Pacific Ocean. My first visit to Altoona was in 1972. My father brought me along for a weekend visit to a river front cabin that a friend had just purchased. It turned out, he had me along more as teen labor, than a fun weekend. They drank cheap wine, listened to jazz and talked art, while I moved a truck load of construction materials down a rickety staircase to the cabin.

A few years later, I returned with friends. The cannery building was within the cabin’s million dollar view of the Columbia River. Once I started driving I began visiting the cabin with ever increasing regularity. The owner, Portland area artist Michele Russo (1909-2004) gave me a key with unlimited access to his cabin.

By the time I became aware of the cannery buildings, most had already succumbed to the elements. You can still see where they once stood from where piles appear along the shores of the river at low tide. Soon, we had become regular visitors to the cabin and we met the owner of the cannery, “old man Stephan” who shared much of the cannery’s history and granted us access.

It was not uncommon for us to visit the cabin for storms or king tides. On one visit, the first weekend of December 1998, Trish and I spent a stormy night in the cabin. When we awoke the next morning, the cannery building was gone! Nothing but pieces of the metal roof stuck on the piles that once supported the structure. Cars, trailers, fishing boats, nets and everything else that was inside the cannery is now scattered across the beaches of the Columbia River. The view from the cabin and beach have forever changed…

Towards the end of the pandemic the grandson of Russo sold the cabin, ending an incredible 50 years of knowing Altoona, Washington.

All Images © 2026 Deon Reynolds - Thank you!