Lifeline to the Past

In the Port Orford area, Cape Blanco Light Station, Historic Hughes House, and Port Orford Lifeboat Station together reflect a time when the ocean was both a highway and the economic center of life, revealing the area's maritime history. All three are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1934, as oceangoing trade and transport expanded, the U.S. Coast Guard established the Port Orford Lifeboat Station, whose crew rescued people from wrecked vessels, and the crew's barracks now serve as a maritime history museum at Port Orford Heads State Park. Local pioneer Patrick Hughes used oceangoing vessels to ship his butter long distances, and his carefully preserved home can be visited at Cape Blanco State Park.

Oregon · United States