Ever been driving through the small coastal town of Garibaldi and pass by an unusually large gray tower? Did you or perhaps your children wonder what it was, or used to be? Did you know that it was an old smokestack? We certainly didn’t.

The great smokestack that still remains in Garibaldi to this day was first built by a man named Hammond in the 1927. The smokestack was part of the Hammond Lumber Company. People from the time period described him as an exceptionally caring and generous man. Hammond built the smokestack to spare the townspeople of Garibaldi from choking on the fumes from his saw mill. Even today, it remains one of the tallest manmade structures along the Oregon coast.

In 2013, the city council of Garibaldi debated over whether or not to tear down the smokestack due to extreme deterioration. It had become a safety hazard, caused by the wind and salt air coming off of the Pacific. Thanks to the efforts of John Foulk, who suggested fiberglassing the structure to help prevent any further disintegration, the old smokestack still remains to this day.

Garibaldi officially became a city in 1946, over 75 years after Daniel Bayley was granted a title to the land by President Ulysses S. Grant. Daniel Bayley was one of the first significant property owners at the time. He established a general store and a hotel on the street now known as Bay Lane. The city of Garibaldi has since had its fair share of lumber mills, including the Whitney Mill, the Hammond Lumber Company, Oceanside Lumber Company and Oregon-Washington Plywood Corporation. The Weyerhaeuser Company still operates a hard wood lumber mill in the Port of Garibaldi.

If you’re ever traveling along the scenic Oregon Coast Highway, be sure to catch a glimpse of this historic beauty on your way through Garibaldi. You never know when it may come crumbling down for good.