Shore Acres State Park

Shore Acres State Park on Oregon’s Pacific coast began as the private estate of Louis J. Simpson, built in 1910 on a dramatic headland near Coos Bay. After a 1921 fire and later financial losses broke up Simpson’s holdings, he sold the property to the State of Oregon in 1942 for park use. The park became known for its formal gardens, including a rose-testing plot and a Japanese lily pond, set above exposed sandstone cliffs and ocean views. During World War II, the U.S. Army used the estate as a radar station. Later land additions and garden restoration helped shape the park’s blend of cultivated beauty and rugged coast.

Oregon · United States