The Port Orford Lifeboat Station was constructed in 1934 by the Coast Guard to provide lifesaving service to the southern portion of the Oregon Coast until 1970. A museum, operated by the Point Orford Heritage Society, is now housed in the station. The museum is free (donations accepted, of course), and is open April-October, Thursday-Monday, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. A 36-foot motor lifeboat used at this station is on the premises and waiting to be restored.
The park has excellent hiking trails on the headlands affording spectacular views up and down the Pacific Coast.
There's a large resident blacktail deer population; please treat them as the wild animals they are.
The station's history
The Port Orford Lifeboat Station (Coast Guard Station #318) was commissioned in 1934 to provide lifesaving service to the southern portion of the Oregon coast. The station served the area until its decommissioning in 1970. The station at Port Orford was one of the three earliest Coast Guard stations constructed in Oregon (earlier stations had been built by the U.S. Life-Saving Service). Neither of the other two Coast Guard-built station retains the degree of integrity as found here. Port Orford’s station complex gracefully combines Cape Cod and classical building forms with Craftsman features, and with its cedar shingles, presents a style typical of the Pacific coast.
Lifeboat stations built during the 1920's through the 1940's represented the highest achievements in Coast Guard architecture. After World War II, station designs changed, making them more military in character. Although simple, the Port Orford station compound exemplifies Oregon’s Coast Guard Stations and is the only Chatham-type station remaining on the coast. Other Chatham-type stations, virtual carbon copies, remain on the East Coast and Great Lakes. Those stations are finished in white clapboard, while the Port Orford station is finished in cedar shingles.
The two-story crew quarters and office building, the officer-in-charge residence, garage, storage building and pump house are still standing. Together with curbed driveways, areas of lawn and privet hedge surrounding the structures and the elevated paths and walkways, the ensemble conveys a particular sense of place and time.
Officer in charge quarters The officer-in-charge residence is sometimes referred to as the "keeper's cottage" as they were known in the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The USLSS merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to form the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Port Orford station's officer-in-charge residence is virtually identical to the officer-in-charge residence at the Point Reyes Lifeboat Station in California. As with the crew quarters, the exterior of the Port Orford residence is cedar shingles, while the Point Reyes house is traditional clapboard, giving the Port Orford station a unique Pacific Northwest appearance.
(text courtesy of the Point Orford Heritage Society)
Lifesaving Station Museum
April-October, Thursday – Monday, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
 (1.3 MB; full park brochure and map; requires Acrobat)
Vital stats
There is no fee to use this park. For information, call 1-800-551-6949.
Services
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Picnicking |
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Wildlife watching |
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Marine mammal watching |
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Terrestrial mammal watching |
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Native plant |
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Fishing |
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Walking trail |
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Hiking trail |
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Forest |
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Rock formations |
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Marine |
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Beach |
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Historic resources |
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Historic buildings |
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Historic sites |
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Museums |
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Historic signs |
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Historic displays |
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Interpretive displays |
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Nature/Visitor center |
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