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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:4905 Otter Crest Loop historic name:The Look-Out on Cape Foulweather
Otter Rock vcty, Lincoln County current/other names:
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
resource type:building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1937 second date: date indiv listed:01/14/2015
primary orig use: Specialty Store orig use comments:Gift Shop, Recreation & Culture: Outdoor recreation, Defense: Fortification
second orig use: Specialty Store
primary style: Late 19th/20th Amer. Mvmts: Other prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Horizontal Board siding comments:
secondary siding: Concrete: Other/Undefined
plan type: architect:George Horace Wardner
builder:Don Jarmen
comments/notes:
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Oregon State Parks - Heritage Parks State Park
NR date listed: 01/14/2015
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
Gen file date: 08/06/2014
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Look-Out on Cape Foulweather was built in 1937 along the ocean side of the Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. 101), about eight miles north of Newport, Oregon. Originally constructed as a coffee shop and small-scale restaurant, it became a gift shop early in its history and has remained so ever since. “The Look-Out” is improbably perched on a knobby promontory on the jagged south flank of Cape Foulweather, 453 feet above the Pacific Ocean. This secondary headland is commonly known as Otter Crest, a name also appropriated by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for the adjacent State Scenic Viewpoint. The Look-Out is a front-gabled, rectangular, bi-level building comprising two poured-concrete volumes containing a main floor and a daylight basement; the rear volume is stepped down to accommodate the grade drop that characterizes the site. Each volume is topped with a moderately-pitched, metal-shingled, gable roof. A center entrance; a small, off-center gabled bay; and a prominent stone chimney mark the front facade. The building has been lightly altered over the years, but still clearly conveys the Minimal Traditional architectural style with its eave-less roof, shallow moldings, cottage-like decorative features, and residential scale. Dramatic site notwithstanding, The Look-Out features several domestic-scale landscape elements, including a surrounding strip of manicured lawn, paved path, pretty vegetation, and picket gate, all shored up by a massive, basalt masonry retaining wall along the property’s north edge. The Look-Out on Cape Foulweather was privately owned from the time of its construction until December 2013, when the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department acquired it. The agency continues to operate the building as a gift shop. It is the only building on the 6,764-square-foot nominated portion of a larger parcel owned by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Look-Out on Cape Foulweather (The Look-Out) is historically significant for its association with the growth of the tourism industry along the Oregon Coast during 1937-1963. Built and operated by Wilbur “Buck” and Anna Badley, the business began briefly as the Foulweather Coffee Shop, but soon shifted into a very successful gift shop when the Badleys realized people were most interested in purchasing souvenirs of their visit to the coast. Upon the completion of the Roosevelt Coast Military Highway (U.S. 101) in 1932 and completion of the essential associated bridges in 1936, tourists could more easily travel and visit sites along the Pacific Ocean. The Look-Out is an excellent example of an isolated entrepreneurial venture along the central coast that capitalized on the public investment based upon the urging and support of the citizens of Oregon. The Look-Out is locally significant under Criterion A for its association with commerce and entertainment/ recreation, for tourism along the central Oregon coast. The Look-Out is also significant for its association with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Beach Patrol, which operated in Oregon from 1942 to 1944. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the coastline was considered vulnerable to attack and constant surveillance was considered vital to protect the U.S. from further attacks. The Look-Out was a strategic vantage point from which to watch for enemy invasion. Six men from the Coast Guard resided in The Look-Out to help defend the coast during this period of time. Correspondingly, The Look-Out is also significant under Criterion A in the area of military history.
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:Oregon Department of Transportation
Bibliography:
Armstrong, Chester H. Oregon State Parks History, 1917-1963, July 1, 1965. The Bicentennial Book of Badleys, A roster and history of five Badley Families, originating in England and living in North America from 1776-1976. Combined and edited by Frances Badley Benes, 1976. Boardman, Sam. Oregon State Park System, A Brief History. The Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, 1956. The Coast Guard at War, Beach Patrol, XVII, prepared in the Historical section Public Relations Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, May 15, 1945. Coast Highway 101 in Oregon, U.S. History: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3973.html; Houck, Sally. “The Bayfront”, Business Index, Visitors Guide & Maps to Historic Newport, Volume VII, No. 7, August, 1977. Hoyt, Hugh Myron, Jr. “The Good Roads Movement in Oregon: 1900-1920”, Thesis for Doctor of Philosophy, June 1966. Lincoln County Coast Directory, 1938, p. 82. Lincoln County Leader. “Roosevelt Highway Edition”, May 23, 1919. “Roosevelt Highway”, November 12, 1920. “Contracts Called for Building Devil’s Lake Road”, May 19, 1922. “Down by the Sea”, August 3, 1922. Merriam, Lawrence C., Jr. Oregon’s Highway Park System, 1921-1989, An Administrative History, Oregon State Parks, 1992. The New York Times, “Roosevelt Coast Military Highway in Oregon”, July 13, 1919. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Reference Archive, Headquarters: OPRD Draft Context Statement, “Tourism”, June 1, 2004. “Oregon’s State Parks and Natural Resource Conservation”, Ocean Shores Program, June 17, 1958. “Depoe Bay Ocean Wayside” National Register Nomination Form, March 2011. Oregon Scenic Byways, Oregon Department of Transportation, www.tripcheck.com/pages/sbentry.asp. Pinyerd, Dave. The Preservation of Pre-World War II Coast Guard Architecture in Oregon, Master’s Thesis, 2000. Webber, Bert. RETALIATION: Japanese Attacks and Allied Countermeasures on the Pacific Coast in World War II. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 1975, p. 80. Wells, Gail. “Capital, Transportation, and Technology Transform the Economy: The Highway Arrives.” The Oregon History Project, 2006. www.ohs.org. Wilson, Aileen, Manager Coquille Branch. The Oregon Motorist, “The Amazing Journey, The Roosevelt Highway”. Oregon State Motor Association. June, 1928.