Bay Ocean
During your excursion today, you'll pass what was once the thriving ocean resort town of Bay Ocean, sometimes known as, "the town that fell into the sea", or, "the town that paid for its own doom."
The town was located either, directly in front of us, or just to our west.
Podcast is available.
Bay Ocean stands as a warning to the hubris of our ever-spreading society.
If you drive to the very edge of Oregon, and then get out and walk, you can stand where developers built Bay Ocean, what they called the “Atlantic City of the West.”
It rose up in the early 1900s on a narrow sand spit that forms the western edge of Tillamook Bay.
Built at a time when the West Coast was clamoring for the refined lifestyle of the Eastern Seaboard, Bay Ocean had a hotel, a bowling alley, a neighborhood of homes and even a small railroad. But then, in what amounts to a slow-motion disaster, it was swept away...
Here's the story.
...
It was the envisioned Atlantic City of the West Coast, complete with a dance hall, and a hotel with orchestra.
See pictures.
See pictures at tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of tillamook. All one word.
Again, that's tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of tillamook. All one word.
I'll wait for you to get there.
Pause
Pause.
Pause.
Then, see Bay Ocean, for pictures of the hotel, steamship SS Bay Ocean and Natatorium.
Bay Ocean also had a 1000-seat movie theater, a shooting range, a bowling alley, tennis courts, a rail system, four miles of paved streets and a heated natatorium, complete with a wave generator and a special section for a band to play music to entertain the swimmers.
Back in the day – 100 years ago – new diversions were offered to supplement the simple recreational beach activities, including the natatorium.
Follow along with pictures...
See pictures.
See pictures.
Natatorium
Natatoriums were a big deal on the Oregon coast. From about 1910 until the '30s, these were the meeting places and hotspots for fun along much of the coastline.
Each had plenty of differences, but one thing was always the same: sea water was pumped in from the Ocean not far away, and heated, creating a warm salt water swimming experience.
Bay Ocean got its natatorium in 1914, which also housed a 1000 seat movie theater. The 50 X 160 foot pool, which varied from one foot to 11 and one half feet in depth, was heated, was known for its wave machine and a special section for a band to play music to entertain the swimmers. The building housed dressing rooms, tub and shower baths, boilers, pumping and heating machinery, a laundry and an electric light plant.
The “Natatorium" managed to survive the Great Depression, but in 1932, waves from a massive storm finally crossed the beach and washed away the sand and under footings.
It was no longer safe to swim there.
The walls of the Natatorium began to sag, and the roof collapsed in 1936. It had totally disappeared by 1939.
It was located across Tillamook Bay from Garibaldi and Bay City. It's gone now, more than 50 years ago Bay Ocean washed into the Pacific Ocean; houses, businesses, everything...GONE, during raging Pacific storms. The town's unforeseen destruction is believed by many to have been caused by the residents themselves.
Despite having paved roads, Bay Ocean was not connected to the rest of the country until the 1920s.
Most residents and tourists arrived to the town via T. B. Potter's steamship, the S.S. Bay Ocean, in a three-day trip from Portland.
The final leg of the journey, entering into the unprotected mouth of Tillamook Bay, could provide a rough and frightening experience to passengers. Eventually Bay Ocean's residents asked the Army Corps of Engineers for a protective jetty to reduce the waves.
The Corps studied the location and suggested that two jetties be built, one on each side of the bay's mouth, at an estimated cost of $2.2 million. Half of that amount was required to come from local residents.
With the multimillion-dollar price considered unaffordable, Bay Ocean's residents had a single jetty constructed at less than one half the cost.
Although the new single jetty made for a much smoother journey into the bay, the one-sided change to the coastline began a process of erosion to Bay Ocean's beaches, slowly narrowing them before overtaking them completely.
The spit itself was further damaged by winter storms in 1939, 1942, 1948, and by 1952, what was left of Bay Ocean, had become an island. What little remained of the town was demolished during the reclamation, and dike-building project of 1956.
In 1960, Bay Ocean's last house was washed away, and in 1971, the last remaining building, a garage, finally fell into the ocean.
All that remains is a commemorative sign at the south end of the county park.
More info from pdx history dot com, and More Info
Bay Ocean.
During your excursion today, you'll pass what was once the thriving ocean resort town of Bay Ocean, sometimes known as, "the town that fell into the sea", or, "the town that paid for its own doom."
The town was located either, directly in front of us, or just to our west.
Podcast is available.
Bay Ocean stands as a warning to the hubris of our ever-spreading society.
If you drive to the very edge of Oregon, and then get out and walk, you can stand where developers built Bay Ocean, what they called the “Atlantic City of the West.”
It rose up in the early 1900s on a narrow sand spit that forms the western edge of Tillamook Bay.
Built at a time when the West Coast was clamoring for the refined lifestyle of the Eastern Seaboard, Bay Ocean had a hotel, a bowling alley, a neighborhood of homes and even a small railroad. But then, in what amounts to a slow-motion disaster, it was swept away...
Here's the story.
...
It was the envisioned Atlantic City of the West Coast, complete with a dance hall, and a hotel with orchestra.
See pictures.
See pictures at tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of tillamook. All one word.
Again, that's tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of tillamook. All one word.
I'll wait for you to get there.
Pause
Pause.
Pause.
Then, see Bay Ocean, for pictures of the hotel, steamship SS Bay Ocean and Natatorium.
Bay Ocean also had a 1000-seat movie theater, a shooting range, a bowling alley, tennis courts, a rail system, four miles of paved streets and a heated natatorium, complete with a wave generator and a special section for a band to play music to entertain the swimmers.
Back in the day – 100 years ago – new diversions were offered to supplement the simple recreational beach activities, including the natatorium.
Follow along with pictures...
See pictures.
See pictures.
Natatorium
Natatoriums were a big deal on the Oregon coast. From about 1910 until the '30s, these were the meeting places and hotspots for fun along much of the coastline.
Each had plenty of differences, but one thing was always the same: sea water was pumped in from the Ocean not far away, and heated, creating a warm salt water swimming experience.
Bay Ocean got its natatorium in 1914, which also housed a 1000 seat movie theater. The 50 X 160 foot pool, which varied from one foot to 11 and one half feet in depth, was heated, was known for its wave machine and a special section for a band to play music to entertain the swimmers. The building housed dressing rooms, tub and shower baths, boilers, pumping and heating machinery, a laundry and an electric light plant.
The “Natatorium" managed to survive the Great Depression, but in 1932, waves from a massive storm finally crossed the beach and washed away the sand and under footings.
It was no longer safe to swim there.
The walls of the Natatorium began to sag, and the roof collapsed in 1936. It had totally disappeared by 1939.
It was located across Tillamook Bay from Garibaldi and Bay City. It's gone now, more than 50 years ago Bay Ocean washed into the Pacific Ocean; houses, businesses, everything...GONE, during raging Pacific storms. The town's unforeseen destruction is believed by many to have been caused by the residents themselves.
Despite having paved roads, Bay Ocean was not connected to the rest of the country until the 1920s.
Most residents and tourists arrived to the town via T. B. Potter's steamship, the S.S. Bay Ocean, in a three-day trip from Portland.
The final leg of the journey, entering into the unprotected mouth of Tillamook Bay, could provide a rough and frightening experience to passengers. Eventually Bay Ocean's residents asked the Army Corps of Engineers for a protective jetty to reduce the waves.
The Corps studied the location and suggested that two jetties be built, one on each side of the bay's mouth, at an estimated cost of $2.2 million. Half of that amount was required to come from local residents.
With the multimillion-dollar price considered unaffordable, Bay Ocean's residents had a single jetty constructed at less than one half the cost.
Although the new single jetty made for a much smoother journey into the bay, the one-sided change to the coastline began a process of erosion to Bay Ocean's beaches, slowly narrowing them before overtaking them completely.
The spit itself was further damaged by winter storms in 1939, 1942, 1948, and by 1952, what was left of Bay Ocean, had become an island. What little remained of the town was demolished during the reclamation, and dike-building project of 1956.
In 1960, Bay Ocean's last house was washed away, and in 1971, the last remaining building, a garage, finally fell into the ocean.
All that remains is a commemorative sign at the south end of the county park.
More info from pdx history dot com, and More Info
Bay Ocean.
