Sunday Drive: Shipwrecks on the Southern Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast is breathtakingly beautiful but historically it's been a perilous place for ships.

[Historic Wrecks of Oregon Coast. Many Ships Have Piled up at Coos and Coquille, but Loss of Life Has Been Small. Date: Sunday, January 30, 1910   Paper: Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)   Volume: XXIX   Issue: 5   Section: Five   Page: 2   Piece: One of Two. 

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

[Topography, Oregon (Coos Co.) Coos Bay Quadrangle, U.S.Geological Survey, 1896.

Source: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Libraries]

Since Harold Currey (1902-1981), the father who raised me, grew up in Marshfield* in Coos County, Oregon, in the early part of the 20th century perhaps it's inevitable that his photograph album features postcards showing some of the famous wrecks.

[All postcards here from the Currey Family Album in my personal collection]

The oldest of the three wrecks shown here is what's left of the schooner Marconi which was lost on March 23, 1909, while being towed out to sea to begin a voyage to Valparaiso, Chile. No lives were lost.

[Date: Wednesday, March 24, 1909   Paper: San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California)   Page: 18.  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

Although the Czarina could easily be seen from shore on January 12, 1910, the stormy weather made it impossible to rescue those on board. As recounted in this article from the Aberdeen, South Dakota, Daily News, only one man survived.

[Big Steamer is Wrecked in Storm Engines Helpless through an Accident, Ship Was at Mercy

Date: Thursday, January 13, 1910   Paper: Aberdeen Daily News (Aberdeen, South Dakota)   Page: One.  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.Source: GenealogyBank.com]

The Santa Clara's fate on November 2, 1915** was also reported in newspapers around the country. The example below is from the Rockford, Illinois, Republic.

[Date: Wednesday, November 3, 1915   Paper: Republic (Rockford, Illinois)   Page: 1  

This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004

Source: GenealogyBank.com]

*The city's name was changed to Coos Bay in 1944.
**For more about the Santa Clara including photos, look here

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© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.