Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

In February of 1937 a shipping strike caused lumber to pile up at Port Orford mills...

Filling the docks and mill yards, even spilling onto the streets and lots of town...

The Trans-Pacific Lumber Co. arranged for a steamer out of LA to ship lumber...

The Cottoneva arrived at the then new Port Orford dock on Tuesday, February 9, 1937...

The wooden steamer was built in 1917 on the Columbia originally as the Frank D. Stout

The slated load for the ship was to consist of 800,000 board feet of lumber...

The next day high winds hit the harbor and the Cottoneva made for open sea...

As the port had little protection against the 75 mph south winds hitting the coast...

But placement of the cargo made the boat hard to handle and she was beached...

Hard and high aground between the Knapp Hotel and the Port Orford Pharmacy...

The crew of 26 was saved by Port Orford lifesaving crews using a breeches buoy...

Hundreds of people ventured to Port Orford to view the wreck of the Cottoneva...
Which was embedded deeply in the sand and could be reached at low tide...
Questions and solutions about what to do with the rusting hulk varied...
Some suggested the city lay claim to the wreck and convert it into a jail...

A jail with a salt water pool which would be useful in the treatment of drunks...

The wreck of the Cottoneva was ultimately turned over to Orris Knapp...

A man nearly met his end assisting Knapp in retrieving a lifeboat from the wreck...

Charles Hayes' craft capsized and he nearly drowned in the heavy surf...

Knapp planned to use the hull as a tourist attraction for the summer...

In addition to the lumber, machinery and other salvageable equipment...

And thus the Cottoneva became a part of the maritime history of Port Orford.