This area’s history is steeped in sea-based traditions from time immemorial. Like many other Oregon coast communities, geography has played an important role in shaping the city and port that exist here today. For centuries, the people of this land have relied on the ocean, rivers, estuaries and forest for sustenance and livelihoods. In the early 1900s, Tillamook, Garibaldi and the surrounding villages relied on ship and rail to support commerce. This dependence on the sea to transport goods and passengers lead to increased concern in the safety and viability of crossing the Tillamook Bay bar. The treacherous waters have claimed many ships and lives over the years.
The history of the United States Coast Guard on Tillamook Bay traces back to US Congress approval for a Life-Saving Station in Barview in 1904. The US Coast Guard continues to save lives and honorably serve the Oregon Coast with an active presence on Tillamook Bay in their modern facility at the Port of Garibaldi.
Coast Guard History
Established by a unanimous vote of Congress in 1878, the United States Life-Saving Service was the first Federal service devoted exclusively to humanitarian purposes. It provided aid to mariners in distress from Alaska to Massachusetts, with the motto “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” By 1915, the rescuers of the United States Life-Saving Service – fishermen, lobstermen, crabbers, and others who grew up along America’s shores – had saved more than 186,000 lives, becoming collectively the greatest institution of their kind in the world.
On January 20, 1915 the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and U.S. Life-Saving Service were combined and renamed U.S. Coast Guard. The last station to be built on the Pacific Coast during the Life-Saving era was located in Barview at the mouth of Tillamook Bay. Due to a change in the coastline in 1915, the station’s boats were housed and moored at Garibaldi, about a mile and a half farther into the bay. The Coast Guard continued to use the Barview facility until January, 1943, when they moved into their new station in Garibaldi.
pier's End
The building's most significant historical value is its designation as an intact former United States Coast Guard Lifeboat Station. Plans for what is now called the Pier’s End Boathouse were drawn in 1934. Construction began in 1936, and the marine railway became fully operational in June 1937. The structure could accommodate two 36-foot motor lifeboats (MLBs) and one 26-foot oar-powered surfboat, all individually served by rails which merged into one set of launching rails. This system allowed lifeboats to be rapidly launched fully manned.
This boathouse first served the Tillamook Bay Station located in Barview, and then continued after the move to Garibaldi in 1943. It was decommissioned in the early 1960s when the Coast Guard relocated to a new facility, and later the boathouse became property of the Port of Garibaldi.
-History courtesy US Life-Saving Service Heritage Association-
-Aerial photograph courtesy Sam Beebe/Ecotrust-
“The United States Life Saving Service Heritage Association has been actively interested in the Pier’s End Boathouse as it is one of the few surviving structures built over the water that used a marine railway to launch 36-foot motor lifeboats (MLB). I believe it is the only such boathouse remaining on the west coast. The 36-foot lifeboats were the mainstay of the Coast Guard coastal rescue craft from the early 20th century until the 1960’s when they were gradually replaced by the 44-foot MLBs. This structure is very important historically, both locally and on a national level.
On behalf of our Association’s President Dring, we wish to heartily endorse the Garibaldi Cultural Heritage Initiative.”
Pier's End Today
Situated above the water in close walking distance to the Port Waterfront District and Garibaldi City Center, Pier’s End is a freestanding building and walkway extending 760’ out into the bay on a series of over 100 individual pilings.
The Pier is currently open to the public year round courtesy of an agreement between Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Port and City of Garibaldi. With a concrete stairwell providing access to the shoreline and seven ADA-accessible turnouts often utilized as platforms for fishing, crabbing and wildlife viewing, the Pier is a popular recreational site in all seasons. A gravel parking lot services the site with portable restroom facilities and a trash receptacle.
The Boathouse itself is staffed by volunteers. We are currently open holiday weekends, as we continue the renovation process.
A plan for structural assessment, redesign, and restoration of Pier’s End is an essential key to saving one of Tillamook County’s most recognized and prominent visual landmarks.