World Ports in the 1800s: The Maritime Heritage Project with News of Captains, Ships and Passengers

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The Maritime Heritage Project is committed to providing free information; the focus is world shipping during the 1800s, with a concentration on San Francisco Bay.

The information on the site is an accumulation of 15-years of research on ships, captains, passengers, ports and goods moving around the world during the largest world migration in history.

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Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of Exploration and Discovery: British Columbia, Washington, Oregon
Derek Hayes

Images of America Series
Arcadia Publishing

Arcadia Publishing has a wide selection of small books featuring localized histories in various U.S. cities and neighborhoods, such as San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, Boston's South End and Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market. Their authors cover railroads, immigrants, sports teams (such as baseball in New Orleans) and other unique aspects of communities. Dozens of historical images are in each publication and dozens of books exist for each state.

° Astoria ° Coos Bay ° Hollering Place ° Portland

Coos Bay, Oregon's largest bay has represented a commercial passage to the sea from pioneer days to the present. The region has prospered as a center for wood products, shipbuilding, shipping and products of the sea; throughout its history, the Coos Bay area has been the center of trade for the entire southwestern Oregon coastal region.

Transportation systems radiated from Coos Bay to inland Oregon, the Pacific Ocean and other areas of Coos County. The mosquito fleet of small boats delivered people and products to places of pleasure, culture and transshipment to other parts of the world.

The name is derived from one of the area's Native American tribes and has two Indian meanings — "lake" and "place of pines." lace of pines. Several Native American tribes call the Coos Bay region their ancestral homeland. Before the advent of European settlement the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians and the Coquille Indians lived in the area for thousands of years. They were dependent upon the land and the water, the Pacific Ocean and other waterways, and the forests and meadows providing sustenance.

Since the 16th century, its dramatic beaches, promontories, blazing sunsets, endless stands of massive forests, golden dunes, and waters teeming with fish have awed explorers of the southern Oregon coast. Sir Francis Drake is believed to have sought shelter for his ship, the Golden Hinde and its crew, near Cape Arago in 1579.

In the mid 1800's, the waterways and forests that had supported the Native American settlements equally encouraged European settlement. The city, founded in the 1850's, was named Marshfield after the Massachusetts hometown of the city's founder J. C. Tolman, and was incorporated in 1874 under that name. (Editor's Note: In 1944, residents voted to change the name to Coos Bay.)

North Bend is the northern gateway to the bay. It boasts a history of great innovators and business people. Asa M. Simpson and his son Louis were prime movers in the town's development. North Bend was the hub of their northwestern timber holdings. The Simpsons built large sawmills and shipyards, and were instrumental in the development and promotion of the town.