Willapa Bay Boathouse Tokeland, Pacific County, Washington, USA

National Register Description

The following text is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

A 1-1/2 Story, wood-frame, two-bay boathouse; wood pile foundation; gable roof with wood shingles and two dormers; wood drop-lap siding; fourteen double-hung wood windows; one double-wide wood door; two wood 11' 0" x 12' 0" overhead garage doors; exterior concrete block chimney, no interior partitions. The building and launchway were constructed in 1929.

Building is rectangular in shape 52'0" x 32'5"; style is plain, i.e., no ornate trim or unusual features.

Personnel access is via a 10'0" wide wood plank walkway supported by wood piles. Length of walkway is approximately 175'.

Boat access is via wood-pile support marine railway (two sets of tracks); length is approximately 250'; only the wood piles remain for the walkway which adjoined the railway.

Building interior and a second story loft was altered during the late 1960's for use as a Coast Guard recreational facility. The boathouse and marine railway have not been used for their original purpose since the early 1970's, when the motor lifeboats were moored at the nearby marina.

Both the building and railway structure have deteriorated greatly and have not been maintained since the station was closed in 1979. This property is several hundred feet away from the lifeboat station, which was also closed in 1979.

National Register Statement of Significance

Executive Order of September 11, 1854, established the Willapa Bay Lighthouse Reservation at North Cove, where the Willapa Bay Life Boat Station was constructed in 1885 through 1890. By the 1920's, channel realignment and extensive shoaling caused the boat launchway rails to be continually covered with drifting sand to depths of 3-4 feet. In 1929 a new boathouse and launchway were constructed 4% miles away at Toke Point, closer to the mouth of Willapa Bay and its hazardous off-shore bar. The remainder of the station was moved to Tokeland during the mid-1950's and the original lifeboat station was disposed of in 1956.

By 1938 boat equipment consisted of one motor lifeboat, one 38' picket boat, one motor surfboat, one pulling surfboat and one dory. At least one additional motor lifeboat was assigned shortly thereafter. The Station's primary lifesaving effort concentrated in the area around the mouth of Willapa Bay where commercial and sport fishing boats were frequently caught in heavy surf. By the early 1970's the Coast Guard rescue vessels were moored at the nearby County marina; the boathouse and launchway were only used for an occassional haulout for maintenance and repairs. The boathouse was eventually converted into a Coast Guard recreation facility just prior to Station closure in 1979.

The Willapa Bay Boathouse is significant for its association with organized efforts to reduce loss of life from shipwrecks along the Pacific Coast. At one time, 19 stations protected particularly dangerous water areas from Nome to San Francisco, and were manned by the US Life Saving Service and later the US Coast Guard. Three of these stations were located near the entrance to the Columbia River in Washington state: Willapa Bay, Klipsan Beach, and Cape Disappointment. The Klipsan Beach Station was listed in the National Register in 1979 and the Cape Disappointment station - still active as a major Coast Guard motor lifeboat school as well - was included in the boundaries of the Cape Disappointment Historic District in 1975. This nomination is for the surviving structure associated with the Willapa Bay Station.