Many historic homes grace the city of Coos Bay on Oregon’s Southern Coast.
Most of the city’s more than 40 historically significant structures are between Hall and Johnson streets.
Stately old trees shade the sidewalk in front of Coos Bay Manor, a bed and breakfast, and possibly the queen of the neighborhood. The 2 ½-story Colonial Revival structure was built in 1912 for a Danish pulp mill construction engineer, Hjalte Nerdrum. Another house of the same style and almost as large was built for Nerdrum’s younger brother and is occupied today by a woman knowledgeable about the history of the area houses.
Walking along the pleasant street past Craftsman, late Tudor, Queen Anne and other styles, one can imagine a quieter time of horse-drawn wagons and crude streets.
Men involved in logging, milling, medicine, and law built and lived in these homes with their families. Some houses have remained in the same families for generations.
Today’s residents express their pride of ownership through neatly trimmed lawns and shrubs.
Source: Euston, Ann. "Living History in Coos Bay." Oregon Coast May/June 2012. Print.
