About to celebrate it's 153rd birthday in August, 2004, Port Orford is
the oldest town site on the Oregon coast. It had it's beginnings over
a century and a half ago when Captain William Tichenor sought to establish
a settlement on the coast to supply the miners who would certainly come
in search of gold. Click HERE for
more background.
The Port Orford cedar market took off in the early 1920s' and over 60 freight ships visited the harbor each year. Several decades later in the 40's the Trans-Pacific Mill was shipping millions of board feet of lumber a year out of Port Orford.
There was a notion in the early 1950's that if Port Orford had a breakwater (jetty) it might become as big as San Francisco. That never happened, although the Army Corps of Engineers did build a breakwater in 1968 and changed the harbor forever. For more background information on the dock, see About the Dock.
Today, Port Orford is a remote fishing village and artist community as well as a retirement town. While the initial appearance of Port Orford lacks the sparkle and flash of bigger cities, visitors soon find that it is as comfortable as an old pair of slippers and has more characters and intrigue than a mystery novel.
Sport fishermen love the nature filled charm and pristine beauty of the Elk and Sixes Rivers. Divers love the enchanting underwater spectacle at Nellie's Cove behind the dock at the Port. Beachcombers find driftwood and agates on long, protracted walks along the ocean's edge at Paradise Point and Cape Blanco beaches. Surfer's clad in wetsuits ride the waves at Hubbards Creek and at Battle Rock beach. Without the high pressure and fast pace of a big city, Port Orford provides a buffet of nature and ocean based good times to those wanting to just relax and enjoy themselves.
The residents call Port Orford Paradise. Chances are you will too!
