Knappa, OR

Knappa sits on the south bank of the Columbia River in Clatsop County, about 12 miles east of Astoria. Across the water, islands in the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge break up the river’s broad estuary. The refuge covers about 20 islands along 27 miles of the Columbia and protects wintering and feeding habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, fish, and other wildlife. That makes Knappa’s outlook a river one, with school, highway, marsh, and working water all in the same local picture.

Education has been one of the community’s steady institutions for over a century. Knappa High School graduated its first class in 1919, and the district now includes Hilda Lahti Elementary and Knappa High School. In 1998 residents separated from the Clatskanie School District to form their own independent district; later bond measures expanded classrooms, a gym, preschool space, and building repairs, with the latest work completed in 2025. Knappa’s post office ran from 1872 to 1943, another reminder of how an early river settlement grew around a small set of local services. The place is compact, but the Columbia and the school district give it a strong sense of where it belongs.