Point Reyes Coast Guard Cemetery

This obscure little cemetery contains only a handful of graves: four surfmen who died while serving at the nearby Life Saving Station and the family of the the man who first commanded the station. If others are buried here, the markers have been lost. Most of the graves date from the 1890s.

It is easy to breeze by the cemetery on your way out to Drake's Beach or the Point Reyes Lighthouse, although it is only a few hundred feet off the main road. A sign pointing the way from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard reads "Historic Life-Saving Station Cemetery;" some find this amusing.

I love to stop here because of the beauty and serenity of the spot up on a small hill under eucalyptus trees with a beautiful 360 degree view of the bay and meadows. A great spot to see birds, too.

 

Anderson and Carstens, as well as Larson (below) died in accidents caused by large waves hitting their boats. Korpala died from a sudden illness.

Santa Barbara Mission

My intention is to devote this space to little known or threatened places. The Santa Barbara Mission is neither. However, while I'm in a learning mode I'll devote some attention to this and other worthy landmarks.

 

The mission has a small cemetery in back shaded by an enormous Moreton Bay Fig Tree. The more famouse Moreton Bay Fig is in downtown Santa Barbara near the railroad tracks and the beach. Moreton Bay is in Australia and the trees are native to that country; they are a type of Banyan tree.

 

 

Crumbling entrance to a family mausoleum.

 

This way to the graves.

 

 

The inner courtyard.

Sand Point

Fin Project

Magnuson Park cannot completely bury its military heritage. Remnants of fortifications and decaying outbuildings can still be seen along the beach path. A public art project, entitled Swords into Plowshares tweaks the military theme by converting diving plane fins from navy subs into an intriguing monument mimicking a pod of orca whales.

What it's about

This is a blog about the things we have lost and the things we might still save. Old things; ancient things; ways of life; places where man, landscape, and architecture intersect.

Like this: Brixham Harbor, England.

A number of the posts originally appeared on Inside Passage, the blog of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society.