HARRIS BEACH STATE PARK

HARRIS BEACH STATE PARK Your first impression of Harris Beach State Park will be a locale with marvelously varied terrain. You can walk the beach and run from the waves. Climb to the top of a large rock for a great view, while resisting the temptation to add your...

MCVAY ROCK RECREATION SITE

McVAY ROCK RECREATION SITE We get so much pleasure from discovering hidden treasures, it is an easy prediction that McVay Rock State Recreation Site will delight you and be one of the best memories of your visit to Brookings. A Hidden Treasure McVay is a well-hidden...

THE PORT OF BROOKINGS HARBOR

THE PORT OF BROOKINGS HARBOR The Port of Brookings Harbor is not just the busiest recreational maritime port on the Oregon coast, generating an average 100 boat departures a day year round. It is more than one of the most active chinook salmon harbors facing on the...

CHETCO POINT PARK

CHETCO POINT PARK Do you like unexpected treasures? Would you like them to be stunning? Brookings offers the spectacular gem you will always remember. Chetco Point Park is one of the most beautiful locations in Oregon, on the west coast . . . . in the world! Chetco...

SALMON RUN GOLF COURSE

SALMON RUN GOLF COURSE Salmon Run Golf Course is a golf retreat unlike any other in the Pacific Northwest. Located in beautiful Brookings Harbor and set in a maturely wooded area, this course is accented by panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. Golf Digest...

CHETCO RIVER

CHETCO RIVER Adventures include fishing for Salmon and steelhead; camping, exploring, picnicking, hiking and swimming along the crystal clear Chetco River and into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Here are a few of the great areas to explore in the unspoiled beauty of the...

MT. EMILY BOMBSITE

MT. EMILY BOMB SITE The Southern Oregon, Northern California coast strikes visitors as so beautiful and untouched, they sometimes conclude that the area has somehow escaped history. That conclusion is a real part of the appeal which draws visitors and new residents to...

LOEB PARK

LOEB PARK Just a fifteen minute drive north east of Brookings lies one of the most beautiful areas in Oregon. It runs beside the Chetco River which rises inland and flows fifty leisurely miles down to the Pacific and the Port of Brookings Harbor. The gateway to this...

SURROUNDING AREA

SURROUNDING AREA ROGUE RIVER One of only eight rivers in the U.S. originally designated by congress as a "National Wild and Scenic River", the Rogue River empties into the Pacific in Gold Beach, Oregon. Her headwaters are none other than those of Crater Lake, from...

AZALEA PARK

AZALEA PARK Azalea park is a thirty-three acre park containing ancient native azaleas that were growing here when Lewis and Clark wintered on the Oregon Coast in 1805-06. Azalea Park offers active and passive recreational activities. It lies amongst several...

Chetco Valley Historical Museum

A visit to the Chetco Valley Historical Society Museum three miles south of downtown Brookings offers something old and something big. The old thing is the historic Blake House and the artifacts of nineteenth century Oregon pioneer life that are inside. The something big is the largest Monterey Cypress in the United States which is located on the museum grounds.

Looking Around Inside

Built in 1857, Blake House is a wooden frame building two stories high that is set back from Highway 101 in a quiet, peaceful location offering a wonderful view of the surrounding farm land and lily fields as they run away and down toward the imposing, very visible, Pacific Ocean. Housed in the museum are photographs, writings, archives, household furnishings, a spinning wheel and exhibits on Curry County’s history from its indigenous cultures through the founding of its cities and towns. There is also a collection of artifacts and information on the region’s logging and shipping industry. 

The well cared for house is the oldest standing building in the Chetco Valley. It was built by Harrison G. Blake, an early Curry County resident who, in 1874, became the first member of the Oregon House of Representatives from Southern Curry County. He was the first postmaster of the Chetco Post Office and so the building was the home of the first post office in the area. It also served as the area’s first stagecoach station.

Looking Around Outside

The Monterey Cypress stands in front of the house and has reached a height of over 130 feet and a breadth of 18 feet in less than a century and a half. The tree was planted by Blake when the house was built in 1857. Cypress grow fast. Nestling in the shade of the tree are a flower garden complete with scarecrow and huge ship bell. Maintained by the Brookings Garden Club, the yard is filled with beautiful, flowering plants all year. You will want to wander around the property and inspect the tool shed, tractor, outbuilding and a number of other trees not a lot smaller than the Monterey Cypress.

Getting There

Blake House is located at 15461 Museum Road, which runs parallel to Highway 101, a little over two miles north of the Oregon/California border on the inland side of the highway. The hours are Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 PM with extended summer hours. A small donation gains admission. Museum staff can be reached by telephone at 541-469-6651.

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