The Tourist No. 3 ferry, built by Astoria Marine Construction Co., carried cars across the Columbia River.

“Now there are bridges where the ferries once ran,” writes Jennifer Nightingale in “The Last Ferry,” one of the pieces within this week’s collection of poems by Coast Weekend readers.

April is National Poetry Month, and thanks to the many who sent in reflections on spring and life in the region, a second collection will round out the month in next week’s edition.

In Nightingale’s poem, which takes its name from Wahkiakum County’s Oscar B, readers will find a window into the Columbia River’s long history of ferries.

The route between Westport and Puget Island, Washington, which began in 1925, is the last to remain from what were once many ferries to cross the Columbia.

Before the Astoria Bridge, there were the Tourist ferries — the original and later the Tourist No. 2 and Tourist No. 3 — and others that carried cars and passengers between Astoria and Megler, Washington.

Where old pilings call out to herons on 14th and Riverwalk, there was once a dock. On board, passengers would be served breakfast and lunch as they made their way back and forth.

Now, traveling across the river from Astoria takes only a few minutes’ drive, but there is still the Oscar B. The ferry runs at least 18 times each day, from 5 a.m. to 10:15 p.m., every day of the year.