Lock in your love story at Astoria’s Pier 39

Tucked away in the most northwestern part of Oregon, the state’s oldest city invites sweethearts far and wide to share their hearts with the community.

The Astoria Love Locks project celebrates love year-round, encouraging couples to fasten heart-shaped padlocks to the docks at Pier 39, located at 100 39th Street.

But from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, Astoria will put on a special Valentine’s Day celebration featuring music, sweet treats, crafts and local artisan businesses, with the vast Columbia River as the backdrop.

Love lock kits are $20 each and include an officiated friendship or love ceremony. The locks come in red, pink and gold, and are accompanied by a permanent paint pen so lovebirds can leave personalized notes.

Stacey Stahl, president of the Astoria Uppertown Business Association, said they have sold approximately 200 lock kits on average per month over the last year, with sales increasing around holidays like Valentine’s Day and during the summer season.

Astoria Love Locks was first launched by the Menagerie Co-op in 2022.

“The Love Locks project originally began as a creative initiative of mine when I owned Menagerie, a gift shop that launched on Pier 39 in October 2021,” Stahl said. “Later that year, when I formed the Astoria Uppertown Business Association, stewardship of the project was transferred to the nonprofit so it could grow as a community fundraiser.”

In 2024, Menagerie relocated downtown, and local business Ghost Ship Trading Post now assists by assembling and distributing the lock kits to retailers who carry them wholesale.

“The idea was sparked by Floyd Holcom, owner of Pier 39, who once shared that he had always dreamed of seeing love locks on his pier after experiencing them in other parts of the world,” Stahl said. “That seed of an idea stayed with me.”

Some of the most famous lock collections include the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, France; the Most Ljubavi bridge in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia; and the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge in Cologne, Germany.

“Menagerie helped bring that dream to life in a way that felt uniquely Astorian — rooted in place, history, and community,” Stahl said. “Today, the Astoria Uppertown Business Association continues the tradition as an ongoing fundraiser.”

Kits are available for purchase across town at the Menagerie Co-Op, Coffee Girl, Vineside Wine Bar, Ghost Ship Trading Post, Hanthorn’s Tap House, Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa and the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Pier 39 draws visitors from across the United States and internationally, and many couples and families specifically seek out the Love Locks as part of their visit,” Stahl said. “We often hear from people who planned to participate before they even arrived in Astoria.”

Each love lock kit purchase includes a $2 donation to the Hanthorn Cannery Foundation, which supports the Hanthorn Cannery Museum on Pier 39.

“What began as one person’s wish has grown into a living, evolving symbol of connection — layered onto the pier year after year,” Stahl said.