This 50-acre grove of 250 year-old Douglas-fir & understory hemlock is typical of the forest that covered nearly all of the Coos River drainage until major harvesting began about 1950.
Originating from a large forest fire in about 1770, . . . — — Map (db m237648) HM
From this vantage point on September 26th, 1936 you could hear the roar and feel the crushing heat of the flames as they swept across the city of Bandon. Lives were lost and 484 buildings burned to the ground. There were survivors. They surveyed the . . . — — Map (db m176955) HM
This lighthouse, officially the Coquille River Lighthouse, stands today as a reminder of a past era when safe shipping depended on a lightkeeper and his light.
From within the stuccoed brick walls of the adjoining 47 foot tower was a fixed, . . . — — Map (db m113914) HM
In the year 1874 on this and adjoining
property Captain Judah Parker and
partners built and operated the first
steam sawmill and steam tug on the
Coquille River. A year later Captain
Parker, with the assistance of the
settlers and farmers . . . — — Map (db m73228) HM
Donated by Menasha Corporation
To the City of Coos Bay
340 years old, 210 feet tall
Logged by: LA Logging Inc.
Tree Faller: Silver Creek Logging
2000 Trees Replanted
— — Map (db m114193) HM
On July 22, 1922 a fire
started here and spread to both
sides of Front Street. Within
hours, 25 businesses had been
completely destroyed.
— — Map (db m114197) HM
Built in January 1946 by Great Northern Railway in St. Cloud, Minn., this steel-frame, wooden-sided caboose was put into service by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railroad.
Originally painted red, caboose No. 853 operated on the . . . — — Map (db m113665) HM
This cupola-style, 54,000-pound steel caboose was built in December 1942 and sold to Southern Pacific for use on runs between Coos Bay, Eugene and Klamath Falls. Painted "all mineral" brown with daylight orange ends, it was among the last cupola . . . — — Map (db m113660) HM
The 27-foot tug named Irene was built in 1938 by a family friend, C.J. Sessions, for Henry Sause, Sr. and Curtis Sause.
It was designed along the lines of a Columbia River gillnetter with a four-cylinder, 40 horsepower Durant automobile . . . — — Map (db m114195) HM
Working On Water
Koos No. 2 was the second of several tugboats with the Koos name to work for the Knutson Towboat Company.
Built in 1924 by Frank Lowe at his Marshfield shipyard, Koos No. 2 went to work with her . . . — — Map (db m114186) HM
Lynching in America
Thousands of African Americans were the victims of racial terror lynchings in the United States between 1865 and 1950. Following the end of the Civil War, a wave of counterrevolutionary terror and violence swept over . . . — — Map (db m176959) HM
The tugboats of the Coos Bay waterways work on shipping related jobs of towing log rafts, moving big ships in and out of harbor, and moving barges.
Coos Bay is more than a port – it’s also an estuary. Estuaries are places where . . . — — Map (db m114184) HM
The Devon privateer took his flotilla from Plymouth Harbor August 5, 1577 bound for the River Plate.
He raided Spanish shipping and treasure houses around South America, including Valparaiso, Peru and Acapulco roads.
June 5, 1579 the renamed 78 . . . — — Map (db m114250) HM
The Coos Bay Lumber Co. purchased this 73-ton, 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive in 1922 from Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Penn.
Engine No. 104 pulled log trains – sometimes as many as 100 cars – from the Powers and . . . — — Map (db m113669) HM
January 25, 1951 Coos Bay, Oregon May 30, 1975 Eugene, Oregon American records held by Steve Prefontaine at the time of his death May 30, 1975: National Prep Record 2 Miles — 8:41.5, April 25, 1969, Corvallis, Oregon Outdoor 2,000 Meters . . . — — Map (db m157709) HM
Fire
On July 23, 1922 a fire destroyed more than twenty-five buildings on Front Street, including city hall.
Many of the businesses rebuilt a few blocks to the west, moving the heart of downtown Marshfield.
The fire was . . . — — Map (db m114151) HM
The shipping channel in the bay in front of you has a depth of about 35 feet at low tide. Large ships travel in this channel on their way to the upper bay.
Frequently small harbor tugs can be seen pulling log rafts by this pavilion. The . . . — — Map (db m114152) HM
Today, the Coos Bay harbor continues to serve as a connection to the rest of the world, and as a working waterfront.
In addition, it has become a source of identity for the people living near its waters.
The timber industry . . . — — Map (db m114153) HM
On the beach west of here the U.S. Transport Captain Lincoln was beached at high tide during a storm. The soldiers and crew built a camp from the sails under the trees across the bay from this spot and made a flag pole from a mast from which Old . . . — — Map (db m241038) HM
Travel by land was difficult until about 1915.
The road between Marshfield and North Bend was not completed until 1912. Most people continued to travel by small boats around Coos Bay for several more years.
Mosquito Fleet
. . . — — Map (db m114148) HM
Most travel was on water;
roads and rail lines were limited in the early days.
Passenger ships called at the Port of Coos Bay regularly.
Travel by water was faster, and much more predictable than by land.
In the early . . . — — Map (db m114149) HM
In 1872, the Coos Bay Wagon Road was completed.
The road, which connected Coos Bay Roseburg, was 58 miles long. A stagecoach could make the trip in about 28 hours in good weather.
Another route to the interior was the stage . . . — — Map (db m114150) HM
First Came Steam -
The first tugboats in the Coos Bay area had steam engines, and steam powered tugs were in service up to the 1950s.
Steam power had some advantages: wood and coal to burn to make steam were abundant and cheap, and . . . — — Map (db m114189) HM
The first tugs on Coos Bay were steam-powered, usually towing log rafts or piloting sailing ships in and out of port.
Gasoline and diesel internal combustion engines arrived in the early 1900s and began to replace steam engines. By . . . — — Map (db m114182) HM
(panel 1)
The Oregon Coast boasts forested headlands, towering dunes of sand, and sparkling lakes and rivers. From the Columbia River south to Bandon, the picturesque coastline is bordered to the east by the peaks of . . . — — Map (db m113658) HM
A boat designed to push or tow.
Tugboats have a lot of power and are versatile. A tug can push or tow something a lot bigger than itself and can go backward or sideways almost as well as forward.
Screw propellers are designed for . . . — — Map (db m114183) HM
In November, 1937, Buzz Holmstrom, a service station attendant from Coquille, became the first person to run the Green and Colorado Rivers alone. His eleven-hundred-mile solo journey in a handmade wooden boat brought him national acclaim. After . . . — — Map (db m120641) HM
Aircraft proved their military worth during World War I—initially for observation purposes, and later for the support of ground troops and bombing. When the United States entered the war in 1917, air supremacy was hotly contested and airplane . . . — — Map (db m120619) HM
Monument 1 (far left):
He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. — 1 John 2:17
Monument 2 (second from left):
Offer me not your pity / it is understanding that I seek / for once I stood for something / I stood for you. — . . . — — Map (db m176960) WM
