Pacific Beach
Pacific Beach – combined with its close neighbor to the north Moclips – is referred to by the North Beach Business Association as "Washington's best kept secret." The most obvious draw to the region is the almost two miles (3 km) of flat, wide-open Pacific Coast beach that stretches between the two towns 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Hoquiam. Both are on state Route 109 between Ocean Shores and Taholah.

Besides its early manifestation as a sawmill town, Pacific Beach has always been a resort destination of sorts, ever since a man named Henry J. Blodget first settled that part of the coast during the mid-1800s.
Henry Blodgett, a trapper and hunter homesteaded 160 acres (0.65 km²) and eventually gave part of his land to his hunter friend P. H. Roundtree with the stipulation that he build a $500 home. Roundtree built an $800 house which later became the site of the Pacific Beach Hotel. Originally, Pacific Beach was called Joe Creek. In 1903, Roundtree began plotting the town and decided on the Pacific Beach name. Other names considered were Bluffton, Illahee Beach, Roundtree and Ocean View. The Navy has been part of the local area since moving into the Pacific Beach Hotel. During WWII, anti-aircraft recruits trained here and sharpened their aim by blasting targets pulled by Navy planes out of Westport. After WWII, the facility was offered to the local community for $1, but because the community was unincorporated, the sale failed and the base sat idle until 1950.

In 1902, the Northern Pacific Railway got the right-of-way to Pacific Beach from the Aberdeen-Hoquiam area. The town of Pacific Beach eventually was platted as the population surged with the advent of the railroad. (The rutted and mostly wood plank roads in those days were practically impassable.)

The beach soon became a popular destination for Sunday train excursions by folks from Aberdeen and Hoquiam -- even from as far away as Seattle. In 1906, the Pacific Beach Hotel opened and prospered as a resort destination until the Navy took it over during World War II. Flat and unprotected from Pacific storms, Pacific Beach and Moclips are about as close to the ocean beach as any town in Washington. Geographically, Moclips might even be considered actually on the beach. Besides being ravaged by several major fires early on, Moclips has been decimated by fierce storms over the years – especially a big one that blew through in 1911.

Pacific Beach and Moclips, because of its railroad connection to Aberdeen-Hoquiam, became a popular vacation and day-trip destination because of the easily accessible expanse of sandy beach. Razor clams were plentiful, surf fishing was productive and picnicking on the beach couldn't have been finer. One day in 1913, more than 5,000 people came by train to Pacific Beach and Moclips for a giant picnic.
In 50th The Air Force returned and for the next five years operated the Pacific Beach base as a radar station. In 1957 and 1958, after two more years of idleness, NAVFAC (Naval Facility) engineers arrived and redeveloped the base. Then in October of 1987, the U.S. Naval Facility at Pacific Beach was disestablished and transferred to Naval Station Puget Sound and then to Naval Station Everett. Under Commander Naval Base guidance, the unoccupied facilities developed into a Morale, Welfare, Recreation (MWR) and Education Support Center, Resort and Conference Center.

The lodging part of the resort is open to active, retired and reservist military, as well as all Department of Defense and federal employees. Authorized users can sponsor family members and friends. The Windjammer Restaurant and bar, gift shop and bowling alley are open to the public. Each 1950s vintage guest cottage is named after a U.S. president.

Today Pacific Beach is still a small beach community with a population of less than 1000 people and thousands of tourists enjoying Pacific Beach State Park is a 10 acre camping park with 2,300 feet (700 m) of ocean shoreline with brisky fresh area, salty mist and incredible views. -from Wikipedia February 2008
www.pacificbeachwa.com
Ocean Shores
The City of Ocean Shores occupies the Point Brown peninsula on the Washington coast. Long before the arrival of European explorers and settlers, the peninsula was used by the various local tribes for trading and other purposes. The Chinook, Chehalis, and Quinalt Tribes used the area, as well as others that now make up the Quinalt Indian Nation.

On May 7, 1792 Captain Robert Gray sailed into the bay and named the area Bullfinch Harbor. Later, Captain George Vancouver re-named the area after Captain Gray, now called Gray's Harbor. The first white established settler on the Point was Matthew McGee, who settled in the early 1860s. He sold the southern portion of the peninsula to A.O. Damon in 1878 for a trading supply center whose dock extended into the Oyehut channel. A.O. Damon took over the entire peninsula from McGee with the land passed along to his grandson, Ralph Minard, who used the area as a cattle ranch from 1929 until he sold to the Ocean Shores Development Corporation in 1960 for $1,000,000.

At the time the Washington State legislature was considering legalizing some forms of gambling. In expectation of a huge casino development, the Ocean Shores Development Corporation opened their sale of lots in a travel trailer parked in the dunes. Soon the word spread about the California-style development of the place called Ocean Shores. The price of lots began at $595 and were sold sight unseen from the first plat maps. As the numbers of lots sold rose, the prices rose. Property lots were staked and numbered only as the road construction crews began to lay out the massive road system. Even though the first roads were only 20 miles in length, the downtown area had mercury vapor lights to show that this was a booming city. In the first year 25 homes were constructed and their owners had charter membership certificates in the Ocean Shores Community Club.

As the development grew, the Ginny Simms Restaurant and Nightclub brought in the Hollywood set. In fact, on Grand Opening night chartered planes flew up a whole contingent of Hollywood stars, and 11,000 people turned out at Bowerman Basin to see the celebrities.

By December 1960, 25 miles of canals were planned, a six-hole golf course was drawing players, and the mall shopping area was ready for the 1961 Ocean Shores Estates construction boom. The mall, 100 motel units, three restaurants and the airstrip sprang up from the sandy ground with the marina opening in 1963. The S.S. Catala was brought up from California to become a "boatel" and charter fleet office. Two years later a southwest winter storm drove her into the sand and for many years she was the most famous shipwreck on the Washington Coast. In 1966 the famous gates to the city were installed.

Pat Boone became a local resident in 1967 as a stockholder in the Ocean Shores Estates Incorporated and promotion of the development was sped along by the famous Celebrity Golf tournaments hosted by Boone.

By 1969 Ocean Shores was declared the "Richest Little City" with an assessed evaluation of $35 million and 900 permanent residents. The following year the city was incorporated with a planning commission formed to zone the city and codify streets. The city's first school opened in 1971 and road paving on streets began in earnest.

During the 1980s, the town struggled through many setbacks brought on mainly by the state's economic recession. By the 1990s, the slump was over and construction of homes and businesses increased. -from Wikipedia January 2008

www.oceanshores.org
Pacific Beach Resort and Conference Center
Pacific Beach was a popular vacation resort in the early 1900s. The area was once entirely populated by Quinault Indians who partially supported their families by spearing sea otters and whales from ocean-going canoes. When settlers came to the Olympic Peninsula in the 1870s, the sea otter population was quickly depleted. Clams soon replaced otters as the local's primary food supply. In fact, razor clam digging became so prevalent that when the first school opened in 1900 on the nearby Copalis River, classes convened according to the tide schedule.

Tourists from Seattle seeking fun on the seashore overwhelmed the area in the 1900s. Several resort hotels were quickly constructed to meet the demand. The Pacific Beach Hotel built in 1906 became known as one of the Northwest's most romantic "Honeymoon Hotels". Prospering until the outbreak of World War II, the Navy and Air Force converted the hotel to offices for regional headquarters.

The Navy has been part of the local area since moving into the Pacific Beach Hotel. During WWII, anti-aircraft recruits trained here and sharpened their aim by blasting targets pulled by Navy planes out of Westport. After WWII, the facility was offered to the local community for $1, but because the community was unincorporated, the sale failed and the base sat idle until 1950.

The Air Force returned and for the next five years operated the Pacific Beach base as a radar station. In 1957 and 1958, after two more years of idleness, NAVFAC (Naval Facility) engineers arrived and redeveloped the base. Then in October of 1987, the U.S. Naval Facility at Pacific Beach was disestablished and transferred to Naval Station Puget Sound and then to Naval Station Everett. Under Commander Naval Base guidance, the unoccupied facilities developed into a Morale, Welfare, Recreation (MWR) and Education Support Center, Resort and Conference Center.

During the years 2000-2001, the motel building underwent a complete renovation. A new third floor added four Jacuzzi suites. The resort gift shop, restaurant, and registration office were relocated into the new motel complex as part of the huge renovation. The Windjammer Restaurant & Lounge now overlooks the ocean and has a beautiful new bar. Over the next 5 years, plans are to completely renovate all the existing vacation homes of the resort with new appliances, furnishings and updated design as well as making aesthetic improvements to the resort with the installation of underground power lines in the campground and RV park, a new bathroom facility for the campground and new plumbing.

http://www.navylifepnw.com/site/68/Pacific-Beach.aspx
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