El Fincho Rancho / Zig Zag ZooLoran Finch
About the Artist/Site
Zig Zag Zoo, also known as El Fincho Rancho, was created as one man’s mission to beautify his home for his sick wife and eventually transformed into a beloved seaside attraction in Newport, Oregon. Loran Finch and his wife Helen moved onto the property near Yaquina Bay in 1968, marking a new chapter in the couple’s life following Loran’s previous roles as a sailor, cartoonist, furniture salesman and electric contractor.
Work began on the construction of Zig Zag Zoo as Finch adopted the role of caregiver for Helen, who had become ill as a result of medical malpractice. Not wanting to venture far from his ailing wife, Finch cast his attention on their immediate surroundings and began collecting and assembling various objects and artifacts that made their way ashore.
Before its destruction in the early 2000s, Finch’s Zig Zag Zoo was a key attraction of Newport, being described in the travel guide “In Search of Western Oregon” as a “mind-boggling collection of things from sea, land, and, for all its exuberant zaniness, sky.” Other reports of El Fincho Rancho recall the fishing paraphernalia, toilets, spare auto parts, lawn flamingos, and assorted pieces of decorated driftwood sculptures that simultaneously confounded and amazed anyone who stopped by Loran Finch’s labor of love.
~Nikki Ranney, 2023
Sources:
Friedman, Ralph. In Search of Western Oregon. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1990.
Jenkins, Robert N. “Coasting Through Oregon.” Tampa Bay Times, August 14, 1994. COASTING THROUGH OREGON (tampabay.com)
Contributors
SPACES Archives Holdings
1 folder: correspondence, images
Related Documents
Map & Site Information
Agate Beach, Oregon
us
Latitude/Longitude: 44.6752455 / -124.060439
Nearby Environments


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Comments
Andrew Hall February 18, 2023
Grew up less than a block from this place. Is Neighborhood kids would go through lorans creation almost every time we walked or rode our bikes past the zig zag zoo. We’d also get paid a few bucks to help out with painting and pulling weeds if we saw him out. He Was a very nice old man, some good memories.