1906-2017

In 2017 I took a photo of the remains of the Peter Iredale shipwreck on the Oregon coast. I was then able to find a photo of the ship that was taken shortly after it ran aground in 1906, so I combined the photos into one image that spans 111 years.  Copies of this timeless piece of art are available below in various mediums. 

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Sailing from Salina Cruz, Mexico, on or about September 26, 1906, the Peter Iredale was bound for Portland, Oregon with 1,000 tons of ballast and a crew of 27, including two stowaways. On the night of October 25, Captain H. Lawrence sighted the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse at 3:20 a.m.. The crew altered course first east-northeast and then northeast to enter the mouth of the Columbia River in thick mist and a rising tide. Under strong winds out of the west, an attempt was made to wear the ship away from shore, but a heavy northwest squall grounded Peter Iredale on Clatsop Sands (now called Clatsop Spit). The ship was built in Maryport in June 1890, by R. Ritson & Co Ltd for Peter Iredale & Porter. She displaced 2,075 tons and measured 87 meters (285 ft) in length and was fashioned from steel plates on an iron frame. She had royal sails above double top and topgallant sails. Hopes to tow her back out to sea were never realized and some of the iron ribs remain on the beach to this day.