Glass Beach

Glass Beach is a beach in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California, that is abundant in sea glass created from years of dumping garbage into an area of coastline near the northern part of the town.HistoryIn 1906, Fort Bragg residents established an official water dump site behind the Union Lumber Company onto what is now known as "Site 1". Most water fronted communities had water dump sites discarding glass, appliances, and even vehicles. Locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Fires were often lit to reduce the size of the trash pile.When the original dump site filled in 1943, the site was moved to what is now known as "Site 2", the active dump site from 1943 until 1949.When this beach filled in 1949, the dump was moved north to what is now known as "Glass Beach", which remained an active dump site until 1967.The California State Water Resources Control Board and city leaders closed this area in 1967. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage. Over the next several decades, what was biodegradable in the dump sites simply degraded and all the metal and other items were eventually removed and sold as scrap or used in art. The pounding waves broke down the glass and pottery and tumbled those pieces into the small, smooth, colored pieces that often become jewelry quality and that cover Glass Beach and the other two glass beaches (former dump sites) in Fort Bragg.There are three Glass Beach sites in Fort Bragg where trash was dumped into the ocean between 1906 and 1967. Site Two (1943-1949) and Three (1949–1967 - "Glass Beach") are located at the end of the path that begins on the corner of Elm Street and Glass Beach Drive. These sites are accessible by foot and by a short climb down the cliffs surrounding the beach. Site One (1906–43) is 1/4 mile south of Site Two and has become accessible by foot as of January 2015 when the northern section of the new Coastal Trail in Fort Bragg opened.