Cattle Chute, Pile Driver, and Rope House

The pier with cattle chute, 1944.

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

In the yard near the pier lies lies a stiff-leg davit (a small crane) and a cattle chute that were both located at the east end of the former pier. The metal-boom davit was used for loading and unloading heavy materials from boats and barges. The cattle chute was lowered off the wooden A-frame structure to boat or barge decks for loading and unloading cattle.

A wooden pile driver also remains in the yard near the pier. The pile driver was transported here for use in repairing the pier during World War II and has been used for repairs since that time, including the 1987 reconstruction of the pier by park personnel.

On the bluff near the entrance to the pier sits a rope house that was used to store lines, buoys, and other equipment for boat and shipping activities. It was relocated to this area and its date of construction and original location are unknown. The rope house was stabilized, placed on a new foundation, and reroofed by the NPS in 2003.

For more detailed historical information and citations, please refer to the Historic Resource Study: Island Legacies - A History of the Islands within Channel Islands National Park