Historical Timeline of South Oregon Coast Landmark: Port Orford Lifeboat Station Beginnings

Published 10/19/25 at 6:25 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Port Orford, Oregon) – There is good news brewing on the south Oregon coast, and tons of history is boiling over in one famous spot. (Photos courtesy Cape Blanco Heritage Society)

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse and its grounds may have just shut down two of its attractions for the season – but a prominent one opened back up for tours - albeit briefly. .

The Cape Blanco Heritage Society (CBHS) told Oregon Coast Beach Connection the lovely Hughes House was back open for tours throughout the last part of September, along with the ranch. It will do so again during holiday events. The dreamy, dramatically Victorian lovely was inhabited by a founding family of the area about 100 years ago.

This year also marks the 25 anniversary of the Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum. While it shut down for the season, those behind the scenes at CBHS are still celebrating that landmark, recently releasing a host of interesting tidbits about the station.

Their newsletter offered up a major retrospective as well as some other fascinating nuggets about how life was lived there.

Beginning of the Coast Guard Station and Timeline

The timeline traces the station’s origins to 1915, when Congress merged the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service to form the modern U.S. Coast Guard. In February 1929, a third site survey was conducted at Port Orford, with Commander John Kelly and field assistant Andre Fourchy recommending Nellie's Cove as the ideal location. Acting Commandant B.M. Chiswell later confirmed the recommendation to Senator Frederick Steiwar, though he noted that no funds were available for construction.

Somewhere in 1929, Port Orford ranked third among 16 Coast Guard stations authorized by law, but none received financial support. In winter 1931, Congress approved an $83,000 appropriation for the station’s construction, including a six-room bungalow for the Officer-in-Charge and a two-story crew dwelling just west of the cove.

Throughout 1932, the Coast Guard negotiated deeds and resolved title discrepancies on the south Oregon coast tract. These were settled by early 1934. In the winter and spring of '32, drawings for the buildings began to appear. Construction began in April.

CBHS said plans were partially traced from the Point Reyes station in California.

By '34, the place was nearing completion. Yet because of intensely steep terrain, materials for the boathouse were delivered via skyline, and one worker reportedly had to be rescued from the rocks during breakwater construction. Contractor Julius Yuhasz oversaw the project with assistance from Ovid Olson.

How Cape Blanco is a Dividing Line in South Oregon Coast Weather

The station was placed in commission on July 1, 1934, at 8:00 a.m., with Nil Nilsson appointed Officer-in-Charge and a crew of 13 men, according to documentation. The facility was equipped with two motorboats and two pulling boats.

In 1970, the Port Orford Station was decommissioned. The U.S. government declared it excess property. Thus operations were relocated to Chetco Harbor in Brookings.

It almost became history - in the sense of being gone.

Oregon State University used the site until 1976, and after that it was deeded to Oregon State Parks to became Port Orford Heads State Park. A Memorandum of Agreement was signed in 1995 between Oregon State Parks and the Point Orford Heritage Society. In 1998, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and two new trails - the Cove and Headland trails - were added. The Heritage Society acquired a 36-foot motor lifeboat (#36498) in 1999, and the Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum officially opened to the public on June 3, 2000.

Last year, Elaine Schuller donated a bevy of photos of the Port Orford Lifeboat Station in the early 1940s. They show and depict life on the Oregon coast landmark in some vivid detail. In the photos (taken by her father), crew members were playing baseball near the water tower, cleaning the boathouse ramp, gardening, maintaining the grounds, and exploring Nellie's Cove.

This period marks Port Orford’s World War II era, when the station’s usual crew of 13 expanded to over 100 - the largest number ever stationed there. With only six bedrooms in the barracks, some men slept in the attic, and overflow housing was provided at Neptune’s Lodge (now the Castaway Motel) and the Port Authority building.

The boathouse was located 280 feet below Port Orford Heads in Nellie's Cove, accessible by a steep 532-step wood and concrete staircase. The old watchtower site is further west at the end of Tower Trail. Coastguardsmen served four-hour shifts in the tower under all weather conditions. Missing three consecutive watches resulted in dishonorable discharge, according to CBHS.

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