Bayocean, Oregon

Bayocean was a community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. Sometimes known as "the town that fell into the sea", it was a planned resort community founded in 1906 on Tillamook Spit, a small stretch of land that forms one wall of Tillamook Bay.

Bayocean's post office was established on February 4, 1909, and by 1914, the town's population was 2,000. Only a few decades later however, Bayocean had become a ghost town, having had many of its attractions destroyed by "man-induced" coastal erosion. The town's unforeseen destruction is believed by many to have been caused, ironically, by the residents themselves.

The location of Bayocean was said to have been discovered by co-founder Thomas Irving Potter while sight-seeing and hunting along the Oregon Coast. It was purchased by both T. I. Potter and his father/business partner Thomas Benton Potter, who envisioned the venture as the "Atlantic City of the West".

Believing the site to have an exceptional view of the both Tillamook Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the new town's name was logically derived from both.

Bayocean had many features uncommon for a small town of its time, including a dance hall, a hotel with orchestra, a 1000-seat movie theater, a shooting range, a bowling alley, tennis courts, a rail system and four miles of paved streets.

One notable attraction was a heated natatorium, complete with a wave generator and a special section for a band to play music to entertain the swimmers.

While Bayocean's economy was based on tourism, there were other businesses in town, including a cannery, a tin shop, a machine shop, and a Texaco gas station.

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