Southwest Clean-Up
Last Monday I contemplated doing a 4-day road trip to get to the last 21 post offices along the southern coast. Tonight I’m in Coos Bay. I broke it down into 9 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. Once again Google Maps led me astray, and I could only find eight of the nine; the Allegany post office was nowhere near where they said it would be. I couldn’t research where it might be because I was deep into the forest away from US-101, so I had zero service.
After finding those eight, it was only 1:00 pm, so it was way too early for the hotel check-in. I decided to head down the coast some more and shrink Sunday’s quota of twelve. The next town south on US-101 was Bandon, about 30 miles away. That round trip would only kill an hour, so once in Bandon, I headed inland on OR-42 to grab four more post offices that were deep into the woods like Allegany. Thankfully, all four were where Google Maps said they should be.
At the hotel I researched the Allegany post office further. I tried searching for the address given for the place on Apple Maps, and it pinpointed the town’s community center, a couple miles further down the road from where Google said it was. So tomorrow that’ll be the first place I head.
Of the last 8 I need to find, 7 are in towns right on US-101. The seventh town, Agness, is a ways inland along the Rogue River, and the road to get there is on the south side of the river, and Agness is on the north side. I have to drive 3-1/2 miles past it to get to a bridge and go back those 3-1/2 miles, take a picture, and then reverse the route.
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- Elkton – The town has nicknamed itself as Bass Capitol of Oregon, probably because it is where Elk Creek meets the Umpqua River. (3/14/26)
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- Scottsburg – Is located at what was the headwaters of navigation on the Umpqua River, some 20 miles from the ocean. For a short time in the 1850s and 1860s, it was a seaport that serviced the interior of southern Oregon.(3/14/26)
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- Reedsport – This PO is inside something that looks very mid-century modern to me. (3/14/26)
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- Gardiner – I drove right by this one at first; there was no blue box out front, and the sun was glaring off the window, so I couldn’t see the name. (3/14/26)
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- Lakeside – A city that has 3 fairly large lakes and is the gateway to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. (3/14/26)
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- North Bend – According to Wikipedia, this is not to be confused with North Bend, WA, or Bend, OR, which sounds like something I just might do. (3/14/26)
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- Coos Bay – This is the main post office in the city proper. There is a satellite one closer to the coast. (3/14/26)
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- Coos Bay – A smaller local substation called Empire. (3/14/26)
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- Bandon – Is located on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River and was named by George Bennet, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown. (3/14/26)
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- Coquille – A nice little town just a few miles from the coast. I ended up eating at a Subway where I was the only customer. (3/14/26).
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- Broadbent – It is an unincorporated community named after C.E. Broadbent, who started a cheese factory here. (3/14/26)
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- Powers – The Wagner House, thought to be the oldest pioneer dwelling in the region, is adjacent to a railroad museum, that which I passed right by to get to the post office. (3/14/26)
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- Myrtle Point – Those red, white & blue stripes stop before they reach the Mexican restaurant to the right of the post office in the building. (3/14/26)
