Fort Stevens State Park

A military installation built in 1863-64 during the Civil War on the Columbia River. The first US military post fired upon by a foreign power since the War of 1812, when a Japanese submarine shelled it in June 1942.

Fort Stevens was constructed in 1863 during the Civil War to defend the mouth of the Columbia River and was named for Isaac I. Stevens, a Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor. The fort served continuously through three wars, and its most dramatic moment came on the night of June 21, 1942, when Imperial Japanese submarine I-25, commanded by Akiji Tagami, surfaced at the mouth of the Columbia and fired seventeen shells from its deck gun at Battery Russell. The fort's artillerymen never received permission to return fire, as the submarine was plotted erroneously to be out of range. The shells fell harmlessly in the sand and scrub, damaging only a baseball diamond backstop and a power line, but the attack made Fort Stevens the first military installation in the continental United States to come under enemy fire since the War of 1812.

The fort's oldest ghost predates both world wars. Private August Stahlberger of Battery C, Second United States Artillery, died at Fort Stevens in 1868 under circumstances that were never resolved. His death was initially attributed to falling in the river and drowning under the influence of alcohol, a problem common among soldiers enduring the isolated posting. However, the official cause was later revised to death caused by blows from person or persons unknown, transforming what appeared to be a drunken accident into an unsolved murder. Stahlberger was buried in the fort's cemetery, which had been established that same year, and his restless spirit is said to wander the grounds where he met his violent end.

The most frequently reported apparition is a soldier in military uniform seen near Battery Russell, the massive concrete fortification built during the World War Two era. Witnesses describe a young man who appears at dusk or in early morning fog, standing at attention near the old gun positions or slowly patrolling the ramparts as if still on duty. The figure appears solid and real at first but vanishes when approached, leaving observers with a sudden chill and the sensation of being watched. Shadowy figures have been spotted darting through peripheral vision within the fort's bunkers and tunnels, and the sound of disembodied footsteps and distant voices echoes through the concrete passages when no living person is present.

The fort's campground, one of the most popular on the Oregon Coast, has its own collection of reports. Campers have heard footsteps crunching on gravel around their tents late at night, looked outside to find no one there, and discovered moved belongings or unzipped tents upon waking. The sound of a distant bugle playing reveille and the rhythm of marching boots have been reported at dawn, a phantom roll call for soldiers who never mustered out. Strange lights have been observed moving across the old parade grounds and through the surrounding woods at dusk, described as searching or tracking movements that follow no natural pattern. Spirit orbs have been photographed at the guardhouse and Battery Russell, while others claim to have seen a figure actually pacing the yard. Fort Stevens State Park is now one of Oregon's most visited parks, its beaches, campgrounds, and military ruins drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, some of whom leave with stories that have nothing to do with the history printed on the interpretive signs.