Category: Maritime

Port Orford’s Fishing Community

We received a wonderful collection of photographs for the Port Orford Historical Photos Project that shows how much our town appreciates their fishing community! The original photographs were…

Port Orford Sustainable Fishing: A Way Of Life

A mini series all about local, sustainable fishing in Port Orford, Oregon by local filmmaker Eric Feliciano @ the Media Nook. Meet Aaron Longton, our guide into the…

Two Views of Maritime Life

A GREAT WAY TO START 2022: We’re excited to receive contributions from two long-time residents of Port Orford. The first is Rockne Berge whose incredible images of the…

SS Frogner

S.S. Frogner

The SS Frogner was built in 1921 by Armstrong Whitworth and Co. of the United Kingdom for Fearnley and Eger, Frogner, Oslo, Norway. The largest ship to dock…

Amak

Crew of the Charlie Ells – FV Amak

Three portraits of people captured by photographer Alan Mitchell as the crew of the Charlie Ells FV Amak passed through Port Orford in the 1970s. Captured near the…

Maritime - Dock - Piling - Jetty c1970

Port Orford Dock and Jetty 1968 to Present Day…

Tsunami wave train hits Port Orford 2011-0311

Tsunami wave train hits Port Orford. March 11th, 2011

See also: “Oregon Field Guide – Coastal Tsunami” Season 8, Episode 4.

Maritime - Dock - Solid - Gilbert Gable proposal c1935

Dock and Jetty – Gilbert Gable Proposal c1935

Gable had big visions for the tiny village of Port Orford, which had a population of just 300 at the time. Gable envisioned a connection with the Gold…

Maritime - Dock - Piling - Gilbert Gable Jetty Construction 1934-2

Gilbert Gable Jetty Construction 1934-1939

Just three months after Gable (now mayor of Port Orford) dedicated the harbor in a splendid ceremony before dignitaries from all over the state, the massive new Trans-Pacific…

Maritime - Dock - Jetty construction 1968

Jetty Construction 1968

These photos were taken by Myrtle Clark during the construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 1968: As early as 1873, the USACE began developing…

Maritime - Shipwreck SS Phyllis 1936-0309-4

SS Phyllis 1936 – March 9th. Shipwrecked off Rocky Point.

On the night of March 9, 1936, Coast Guardsmen from the Port Orford Lifeboat Station rescued the crew of the steamship Phyllis.  Read more about the the wreck of…

Maritime - Shipwreck SS Sinaloa 1917-0615 - Grounded at Cape Blanco - 1

SS Sinaloa 1917 – Grounded at Cape Blanco

Cape Blanco was a site of several marine disasters. One such grounding was the S.S. Sinaloa which was documented in the lighthousekeeper logs at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse…

Maritime - Dock - Piling - Loading logs - Port Orford Cedar SS Mary E. Moore c1925

SS Mary E. Moore loading Port Orford Cedar logs. c1925

At present, our own steamers are carrying all of the logs shipped out of Port Orford by the four companies operating there. We have put extra strong winches…

1989 California Shell Fish Co Recieving

On The Dock

We have encountered some entertaining contributions for the Port Orford Historical Photo Archive — the latest shows the California Shell Fish Company Receiving Building in 1989 when it…

Port of Port Orford

Port of Port Orford

The Port of Port Orford harbor that has been in use since the 1850s, and was primarily used for shipping lumber. The first Port District was formed in…

OPB 1991

Port Orford’s Sea Urchin Bonanza

An interesting 1991 Oregon Public Broadcasting piece on the Port Orford Sea Urchin fishery: Sea Urchin Fishery vs. Northern Sea Lions, Balancing Rocks, Woodburn Peat Bog and Whale…

The Eagle III in happier times.

Remembering Eagle III

On the evening of Jan. 19, the Eagle III was hit by a rogue wave just outside the Coos Bay bar that turned the 40-foot fishing vessel upside…