Coos Bay Station Site
Charleston, OR
Also known as Cape Arago (1879-1902); Coos Bay (1903-present)
The Coos Bay Station Site site was established in 1916 (at this site, 1879 at original site)
Station closed in 1982 at this site and moved to a new location. 1916 station house survives and is owned by the University of Oregon?s Institute of Marine Biology.
Station Site Notes:
1890 under contract or construction (USLSS Annual Reports). Station built in 1878; The first life saving station on the Oregon Coast was built in late 1878, two miles southwest of Cape Arago. The station was moved from Lighthouse Island to the North Spit of Coos Bay in July of 1891. Since the station had moved quite far away from Cape Arago, the name was actually a misnomer and this issue was addressed in 1902 when the station was renamed; The original station was turned over to GSA in 1955.?A new Cape Arago station is still in operation and is now designated Station Coos Bay (USCG Historian's Website). The U.S. Navy occupied the site of the second station in 1941 and used it as a direction finder station during World War II. At the end of the war it was returned to the Coast Guard and in 1953 sold to a private party as surplus. The station house burned around 1967 (David Pinyerd).
Buildings at this Station Site
The 1916 station house is surviving at this site