The Wreckage (Ocean Park, Washington) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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The Wreckage
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 Location in Washington (state)
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| Location | 1408 256th Pl., Ocean Park, Washington |
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| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1912 |
| Built by | Guy Allison |
| Architect | Guy Allison and Matthews Zhetley |
| NRHP reference No. | 79002547 |
| Added to NRHP | September 18, 1979 |
The Wreckage is a special log house in Ocean Park, Washington. It was built in 1912 using logs that were not shaped or smoothed. The house was created by an author named Guy S. Allison. He built it as a beach house on the Long Beach Peninsula.
What makes it unique is that Allison used materials he found or "salvaged." He collected driftwood from the Pacific Ocean. With this driftwood, he made animal shapes around the house. He called this collection his "zoo" of driftwood animals. This "Wreckage Park Zoo" was even shown on U.S. Geological Survey maps! It was also featured in famous shows like Ripley's Believe It or Not! and Strange as it Seems.
Meet Guy S. Allison, the Builder
Guy Selwin Allison was born in Missouri in 1883. He moved to Washington in 1906. He became a teacher and a principal in Tacoma. In 1911, he bought land in Ocean Park. He and his wife, Virginia, spent their honeymoon there.
Allison later stopped teaching. He wanted to work outdoors more. In the 1930s, he started writing a newspaper column. It was called Bypaths of History. This column appeared in newspapers across the western United States.
How The Wreckage Was Built
The Wreckage is a log cabin made mostly from found items. Its location near the Columbia River mouth was perfect. Many ships carrying timber would wreck there. This gave Allison lots of materials to use.
For example, the main logs came from a huge raft. This raft broke apart in 1911. Its logs spread along the coast. The house's special tongue-and-groove wood came from a ship. This ship, the Washington, almost wrecked that same winter. Its crew threw the wood overboard to lighten it. Even the cement for the foundation came from a wrecked French ship called the Alice.
Allison gathered all these materials from the beach. He planned a strong, blockhouse-like cabin. He had seen similar cabins in Sitka, Alaska. He built the house using only simple hand tools.
What The Wreckage Looks Like
The house is 1 and a half stories tall. It was built in 1912. It uses 30-foot logs for the front and back. The sides use 24-foot logs. The house sits on a strong concrete block foundation.
The roof hangs over the sides. It has pointed gables at the ends. There are also small windows called "shed dormers" on the long sides. These stick out from the roof. The openings for windows and doors were cut right from the logs. They are decorated with fishing net floats. There are two chimneys, one at each end of the house.
The Wreckage was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Over time, the famous driftwood zoo slowly disappeared. Other small buildings, like a garage Allison called "The Wreckagette," are also gone now.
The author Walter A. Tompkins even set his novel CQ Ghost Ship at The Wreckage.
