Please do not enter the property. Permission was granted to view the buildings from OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER FENCE ONLY. You may walk down the public street (see reference waypoint) to view the Radio Tower but do not enter the property and please respect the No Trespassing signs.
You may reach the cache from outside the perimeter fence. If you are short, there is a piece of rope tied to the cache which you may use to retrieve it without entering the property.
A Short History
Klipsan Beach Life Saving Station was established in 1889 under the U.S. Life Saving Service to provide assistance for shipwreck victims. A two-acre site, about halfway up the Peninsula and located between the ocean beach and the railroad, was purchased from Edwin G. Loomis, president of the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company. The railroad made it possible for Life Saving Crews to move quickly to wrecks north and south of the station.
Until 1892 when station buildings were constructed, crews consisted of volunteers from the community. Each evening a volunteer watched over the beach and telegraphed news of shipwrecks to Cape Disappointment. In 1892 a crew of eight was hired, consisting of one keeper, often called the captain, and seven surfmen. In 1915, the name changed again when the U.S. Life Saving Service and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Services were merged into one agency, forming the U.S. Coast Guard. The station became U.S. Coast Guard Station No. 309, and its mission began to evolve and change.
During World War I, staffing increased as the station was used to guard the region’s beaches. Later, the U.S. Navy built a radio tower so that signals could be passed to and from passing ships. By the end of World War II, the station was deemed to no longer serve a purpose, and was closed in 1947. Portions of the property were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.