Saturday, January 13, 2007

Hinsdale House, Reedsport, Oregon Coast Update

At a Reedsport Rotary meeting this week, a representative from the Coos Bay office of the BLM talked about the Hinsdale House along the north side of Umpqua River. This Oregon Coast house and its gardens were sold to the BLM years ago with the stipulation that the gardens be saved. The property has been an albatross around its neck ever since due to its limited access and the house is not up to code.

In 1998, a group of nearby citizens (the Friends of Spruce Reach Island) rallied to save the 1912 house from demolition. More than 650 people showed up for a tour of this historic house across the river that is currently only accessible by boat. The gardens contain more than four hundred rhododendrons that are 50 and 100 years old as well as many rare trees and shrubs in the garden. This group and others were successful in preventing the decaying structure that is not up to code from being torn down.

At the Rotary meeting this week, BLM rep Elaine mentioned that it was working with the American Rhododendron Society to establish a national historic site there so that the gardens could be preserved. For those interested in helping in the gardens, a work party is planned for this spring (2007).

The BLM has received $60,000 that will go towards repairing the existing bridge that leads to the property. Recently two acres were purchased on the east side of the bridge that could possibly serve as a parking area in the future. Regarding the home of former Oregon Senator Henry Hinsdale, the BLM is in a quandry because a rare bat has taken residence in the home and they are obliged to preserve its habitat. There may be a way to renovate the home that could preserve the bat's habitat but the jury is still out on this one.

The BLM is also looking for ideas of activities to get people to come out to the gardens. Someone at Rotary, suggested they re-institute the "May Tea" that used to be held on the island. Elaine also mentioned possible garden tours. They would like to see the site become self-sustaining in the future.

1 comment:

Zacchaeus said...

Tee,

As a historic-site and rhody fan, I found your post about the Hinsdale House to be most interesting. The site could be a valuable addition to Reedsport and Oregon coast attractions.

Once the bridge is restored and the house brought up to code, perhaps a caretaker with gardening skills could live there.

As for the bat, maybe an inexpensive nearby substitution could be built to relocate it.

Zacch