TILLAMOOK COUNTY, Ore. — I love the kind of travel that puts me in touch with adventure that promises to teach me more about Oregon’s past.
Drive west from the town of Tillamook to reach Bay Ocean Road that skirts the southern end of Tillamook Bay. Soon, you are face to face with the site of Bay Ocean Park, a now-extinct community that was a developer’s dream turned into a homeowner’s nightmare. Construction of the subdivision began in the early 1900s when it was coined "the Atlantic City of the West." It boasted homes, cabins, restaurants, and stores, even a centerpiece hotel with an indoor swimming pool.
Harold Bennett and Perry Reeder were boys who still remember paved streets, sidewalks and store fronts.
“At one of the stores there was a famous sign taped on the window,” said Bennett. ‘Watch Bayocean Grow’ and it was there until the time that they burned and bulldozed the building down.”
Reeder said the trouble was that this sprawling concept was “built upon sand, and sand is vulnerable to wind and tides. To put it simply, sand moves!”
That’s what happened after Tillamook Bay’s North Jetty was completed in 1917. The Bay Ocean Spit began to erode within three years following the jetty’s construction. Between 1932 and 1950, the ocean cut a mile-long swath across the spit and the town site. Slowly at first and then with greater momentum, homes began to slip and slide into the deep blue sea.
“Buildings were falling down, houses were going into the ocean, and people had to move out. It was all so sad,” recalled longtime resident Barbara Bennett.
She remembered homes sliding down eroding sand dunes.
“Many people lost their lots, their houses and their money and were able to save only their possessions,” she said.
Reeder added, “It’s really amazing how well the people took it. If it happened today, there would be lawsuits everywhere, but those people stand out in my mind, they took it so well.”
Some homes were saved from ruin when they were moved, like the one that is nicknamed the “Pagoda House” for its distinct style.
“It was falling off a hill and they had to pull it through a sandy area with tractors until they could get it on a truck,” said Oregon author Jerry Sutherlund.
Sutherland is a history buff and the author of "Bayocean, Atlantis of Oregon." He’s long been fascinated by the Bayocean story. He said five homes and the Bayocean School were moved to the nearby village of Cape Meares just in the nick of time. The school was remodeled and now serves as the Cape Meares Community Center.
“It was a case of nature against man and nature didn’t care much about what happened to the people, it just got worse and worse until the community was burned and bulldozed under in the 1950s,” Sutherland said.
Still, Bennett and Reeder hold on to their shared history and heritage by placing signs and markers across the spit to show where the roads ran and where the many stores and hotels stood. Both are proud to have been a part of a community that was once a vacation destination and is still open for exploration on foot or on a bike.
Today, Bayocean Spit is managed as a Tillamook County Park and it is great fun to hike or bike its four-mile length, even though all signs of the former community are long gone.
You can learn more about “Bayocean, The Atlantis of Oregon” at a speaking and book signing event at the Cedar Hills Powell’s Books Store on Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. I will be on hand to visit with Jerry, sign books and talk Grant’s Getaways.
Be sure to watch the weekly half hour program of Grant's Getaways. The show airs each Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. on KGW.
For something different, you can follow my Oregon adventures via the Grant's Getaways podcast. Each segment is a story-telling session where I relate behind the scenes stories from four decades of travel and television reporting.
You can also learn more about many of my favorite Oregon travels and adventures in the Grant’s Getaways book series, including:
"Grant's Getaways I," Photography by Steve Terrill
"Grant's Getaways II," Photography by Steve Terrill
“Grant's Getaways: 101 Oregon Adventures,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
“Grant's Getaways: Guide to Wildlife Watching in Oregon,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
“Grant's Getaways: Oregon Adventures with the Kids,” Photography by Jeff Kastner
The book collection offers hundreds of outdoor activities across Oregon and promises to engage a kid of any age.
You can reach me: Gmcomie@kgw.com