Secrets of the Season

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North Oregon Coast Attraction Tells Real – and Shocking – Story of Region

(Seaside, Oregon) – At the northern edge of Seaside, in an unassuming brown building, there’s something a bit subversive. Here, there’s a gateway to a massive array of discoveries about the Oregon coast. It dares to talk about the native history. It’s got he audacity to delve deep into the environmental aspects of the area. And it’ll tell you the mind-blowing recent history of how chunks of Seaside’s beaches did not even exist before the 1980’s.

Natural history, geology, animals, trees and foliage – basically why you see what you see as you wander the beaches or play in the forests – are on display in this tiny place that’s big on knowledge. If OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) was located on the coast, it might be a bit like this.

“It’s a clearing house for the natural history of the region,” said Seaside geologist Tom Horning, who helps run what is called the Coastal Natural History Center, which also goes by the name of Gateway To Discovery. It’s crammed with stuff on the natural sciences of the area, a place where tourists can stop briefly to find out the secrets of the north Oregon coast, how and why things look as they do, and how to really appreciate the natural surroundings they’ve just driven tens or hundreds of miles to see.

Sunset from the deck of the Coastal Natural History Center

“We want to make them aware of what they’re recreating in, and then go and play in it,” Horning said. “The real value of learning is in the experience of it. Tourists like the outdoors. That’s what they’re here for. We’ll show them what they can find out there, or maybe take them out to see it. Then when they’re done here, they go out and do what tourists do. But they have a greater understanding of it and a greater appreciation.”

The Coastal Natural History Center has a myriad of displays about nature and geology, showing you a multitude of fascinating things about the beaches, wetlands, hiking paths, forests, marine gardens and all the animals and fish you’ll find there. It sits right on the Necanicum Estuary, which in itself yields some amazing nature moments, when one kind of beastie or another wanders by. There’s a deck here that’s used for showing the public natural goodies firsthand, or in the warmer, drier months they’ll give talks here on a variety of subjects.

Horning, who is also president of the Seaside Native American Project, said the center also concentrates on the history of the native tribes here as well as the natural history. He says these are all connected.

Longhouse replica

“The natives and their culture across the continent always reflected the environment they lived in,” Horning said. “Unlike the white people, who imposed their presence on the land, the natives lived within their landscape. So the center not only covers the natural aspects but the Native American history. Basically, it covers everything but the Euro-American culture. Everyone else does that already.”

One of the big points the center tries to get across is how interconnected the entire environment is, especially in the coastal region. Displays and exhibits explain much about the fish, birds, plant life and geology of the area. But it shows how closely related all these facets are to each other, and to the forests, its watersheds and the animal life that’s just a ways inland.

Horning gets excited as he talks on this subject. He points to the fish that swim upstream from the ocean. They in turn are eaten by the coyotes or bears. These animals then fertilize the land with their feces after these meals, as well as by dragging fish carcasses onto the land. This allows for the continuation of plant life, which in turn feeds many of the species the animals feed on. It’s a circle of life that’s incredibly intertwined with the ocean and the land.

There are microscopes plugged into television monitors which allow visitors to look at rocks, shells, plants and other objects very closely. A glass display case shows what various fish inhabit the near shore ocean and the coastal rivers. Another case shows off a myriad of objects found at local digs, with replicas of native artifacts thousands of years old. At the other end of the spectrum, a telescope is sometimes used to spot the creatures which wander around the estuary, in the distance, like elk, bird, otters, etc.

The deck often serves that purpose, as well as hosting lectures on things like lighthouses or other natural aspects of the area. These happen during the spring and summer months and are usually free.

This building also hosts a large replica of an Indian longhouse – a structure that was rescued from sure destruction after it was used in a Lewis & Clark bicentennial in St. Louis.

The native history, is so intertwined with the natural history of the area it cannot be ignored, Horning said. This aspect of Seaside yields yet more unbelievable surprises.

“Did you know Seaside has more archeological sites than anywhere on the West Coast?” he asks. “They are hidden below the ground all over Seaside, and they’re in danger.”

A small walking path wanders off into the forest, which center personnel sometimes give small walking tours on. Horning points to a bit of forestland in the distance, just beyond the trail, and notes a major archeological site was discovered there in the 90’s – a village some 2,000 years old.

Then there’s the whole geological aspects to Seaside – a mind-blowing trip through time that really gets Horning excited. After all, Horning recounts with a sort of haunted glee how he lived through the 1964 tsunami that slammed through Seaside, back when he was in fourth grade.

Oceanfront building at The Tides, 2006: lots of beach exists here now

An enormous aerial photograph of Seaside tells about a whole other side to Seaside. Horning points out that a tsunami and other natural catastrophes have seriously changed the landscape here in just the last one hundred years. The mouth of the Necanicum River, which now sits nearly a half-mile north of the end of the Promenade, was actually right about where the Turnaround is now, back in before the tsunami of 1700. Horning uses the photograph to point out these facts, and other amazing changes.

“A huge landslide in 1987 added about 100 yards to the southern end of Seaside, where the cove is now,” Horning said.

He explains that Tillamook Head sometimes drops tons and tons of rocky material into the sea, which periodically changes the landscape. Boulders and rocks from this particular landslide slowly filled in the cove area, extending one part out hundreds of feet. A new spit was formed by the rocks for a while, which locals used with glee to catch loads of fish. Fairly quickly, that space between the spit and the land filled, creating an enormous dead tide pool for a while. Eventually, sand and rocks filled all that in, as well as down the beach.

Horning points to the building at the cove that is the beachfront section of The Tide by the Sea hotel. “Back when they first built this, the sea practically came right up to the building,” Horning said. “They had boulders and rip rap there to keep it away. After 1987, 100 yards of beach was created in front of that area.”

This small center of science has some big plans. It is run by three nonprofit partnerships: the North Coast Land Conservancy, the Seaside Native American Project (of which Horning is the president) and the Seaside History Museum. The four entities hope to expand the building someday and along with the city of Seaside, create a bigger park out of neighboring land. Horning said they’re also hoping the Gateway To Discovery center will become the big tsunami education outreach for the area.

“We hope to grow and become a major element in the north coast's outdoor focus and community resource for citizens and education,” Horning said. “With a regional National Heritage Site designation for the area near the mouth of Columbia River hopefully coming up soon, this kind of center will fit perfectly and naturally with everyone else in the region.”

Horning again points to how everything is interconnected, and how there is not only a coming together of the various science disciplines, but of various civic and governmental agencies as well – all pointing to a more interesting future for this center and the public’s ability to enjoy what it has to offer.

“It used to be, long before geology, geology, weather, etc., became separate science disciplines, natural history was the subject taught to students,” Horning said. “We need to get back to that. Our focus at the center tries to reunify all these topics, including Native American culture and history. Landscape culture and science for the masses is our goal.”

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