C50 01,e ou'W'e tef' - Pacific County Historical Societypacificcohistory.org/SouWester/1983 Winter.pdfC 50 01,e 8ou'W'e SINCE 1966 tef' WINTER 1983 Published Quarterly by the Pacific

C50 01,e8ou'W'e

SINCE 1966tef'

WINTER1983

Published Quarterly by thePacific County Historical Society

State of Washington

OCEAN PARK CENTENNIAL

1883- 1983

Volume XVIIINumber 4

A'S MeSINCE 1966 Sou''~te(ss 5

A Quarterly Publication of the Pacific County Historical Society, Inc .A Non-profit Organization

Magazine subscription rate - $8.00 AnnuallyMembership in the Society - $3.00 single, $5 .00 couple

Payable annually - membership card issuedAddress: P.O. Box P, South Bend, WA 98586

Historical articles accepted for publication may be edited by the editors to conform to size and other requirements .Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the historical society . At RightsReserved . Reprinting of any material approved by special permission from the Pacific County HistoricalSociety . Second class postage paid at South Bend, Washington .

PUB. NO. ISSN-0038-4984EDITOR

Larry WeathersStaff

Karen Johnson and Luvirla Evavold - SubscriptionsJoan Mann - Editorial Assistant

Printed by Pacific Printing, Ilwaco, Washington

Our CoverThis old Ocean Park beach approach sign was dubbed the "Sunset Arch" . It stood at the east end of Bay

Avenue and was erected in the spring of 1932 . It replaced a weather-beaten sign which stood at the approach formany years . Two local clubs called the Nit-Wits, a men's club, and S .I .O (Six in One), a women's club, joinedforces to build it. Club members were Les Wilson, Bob Delay, Henry Edmonds Jr ., Bit Wins Sr., JohnMorehead Jr ., Walker Tompkins, Lucille Wickberg (Mrs . Les Wilson), Edith Lundquist Winn (Mrs . Bill Winn),Alva Slagle, Nancy Peterson, Sharlie Peterson, and Edna Burden .

Les Wilson says his club feted a fir tree, sawed the trunk into three pieces, and transported it to the dunes at theapproach . After several failures the sign was finally erected . Walker Tompkins painted it to read "Ocean Park" onthe west side and "Sunset View" on the east side . Henry Edmonds says that Charles "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick set up hiscamera and waited for two hours to get a photograph of a car driving under it . This photo, without a car, was alsotaken by Fitzpatrick .

The "Sunset Arch" finally rotted in the late 1940s and the sign was replaced by a new community group ledby Lyle Clark in 1949 . The new sign utilized the metal masts of the wrecked ship Arrow. One of the masts stillstands, but it is now badly rusted .

In December 1981 the North Beach Peninsula Association instated a beautiful new sign at the beach ap-proach . The legend "Ocean Park, 1883, 46°30' W ., 124°2' N ." is etched in the wood .

Table of ContentsTITLE

PAGE

Our Cover 62Ocean Park and the Methodist Church - compiled from stories by Lucile R . Smith and George C . Johnson . . . 63Map of Ocean Park Camp Meeting Association - from the Museum files 72S.A. Matthews House - Editor 74Ocean Park Cottages - from the Museum files 76Ocean Park Post Office - from the Museum files 79"Please God, Don't Make Me A Porpoise" - recalled by Beulah Wickberg 79The Wreckage - Larry Weathers 80From An Ocean Park Postcard - submitted by Marcel King 83

62

r

Ocean Park and The Methodist Churchcompiled from stories by Lucile R. Smith and George C. Johnson

Editor's Note: This Issue of the Sou'wester celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of thecommunity of Ocean Park in 1883. The history which follows was compiled by the editor from infor-mation found in stories by Lucile R . Smith and George C. Johnson . The text only covers the earlydecades and is not meant to be a complete history . Special thanks are extended to the Friends of theOcean Park Timberland Library for providing many of the photos, and to Librarian Bonnie Sayce forcollecting the captions which accompany them. The other photos are from the collection at the PacificCounty Museum in South Bend .

A few words about our sources:Lucile R. Smith was born In Walla Walla on May 30, 1894 . Shortly after her birth, her family

moved north of Walla Walla to the town of Dayton, where her father owned a hardware store . Exceptfor two and a half years at the University of Washington just before World War I, Lucile spent her youthliving and working in southeast Washington . She moved to the western half of the state in February1932 when she took a job in Longview. In May 1956 she moved to Ocean Park, and in April 1957 shewent to work for the Telephone Utilities Company in Ilwaco. She retired from her job at the age of 60in February 1963 . She will be 90 years old in May 1984 .

Lucile says her first visit to the Long Beach Peninsula was made in 1905 when her family visitedan Uncle who lived in the town of Long Beach . She returned to visit almost every summer thereafter aslong as he was living, and until she moved there permanently. The material authored by her, and usedin this story, was first prepared for her church and published as "A Brief History of the MethodistChurch, Ocean Park" on August 9, 1964 .

George C. Johnson was born January 26, 1872, In California, and died on February 14, 1934, inOcean Park. He was brought to Washington at the age of two years when his parents died, and wasadopted by J.C. and Margaret Sullivan Johnson of Oysterville . He married Mary Lescher of NewHaven, Connecticut, in 1911, and was primarily involved in the oyster industry . He lived most of hislife in Ocean Park and was well known on the Peninsula . His home still stands on the northwest cornerof Grove and Melrose Avenues in Ocean Park . It is currently owned by Pacific County native CatherineHerrold Troeh (now living in Seattle), who has recently restored it .

The information taken from Mr . Johnson's story was first used in an address made by him beforethe Pacific County Pioneer Association meeting at Bay Center in August 1931 . His address first ap-peared in print in the Oregon Historical Quarterly December 1931, and was posthumously reprintedby Dick Murfin, owner of the Tribune of Ilwaco, in a book titled A Collection of Historical Addresses byGeorge C Johnson in September 1947 .

Those who want to read more personal memories of Ocean Park should refer to earlier articlespublished in the Sou'wester. "Off for Ocean Park on the T .J . Potter" by Anna Hamilton Hood ap-peared in 1966 (Volume I, No . 2, pages 33-36). Mrs Hood first visited Ocean Park with her parents inthe 1890s and was living there when she died in June 1959 . "Old Times at Ocean Park" by RichardG. Montgomery was published in 1974 (Volume IX, No. 2, pages 23-27). Mr. Montgomery was a fre-quent summer visitor in his youth . His grandfather J.K. Gill was the founder of the stationery companybearing his name, and an early member of the Ocean Park Camp Meeting Association .

The history of the Methodist Church in Pacific County and the founding of the Community arelike two cross-threads in the larger tapestry of Pacific County history. The stories written by Miss Smithand Mr . Johnson both recognize this fact and begin on that note .

The Methodist Church has an early history in Pacific County . The Reverend John F .DeVore, a circuit rider who became presiding elder in 1853 of a district which included allof southwestern Washington Territory, periodically visited the county to tend a scatteredflock of Methodists around the bay . From Fort Steilacoom to Chinook he held services inprivate homes, boarding houses, and one or two churches he helped build . When the

63

weather permitted in places like Pacific County, he held services under the open sky .The Reverend John N . Dennison was the first Methodist circuit rider to be specifically

assigned to the communities ringing Shoalwater Bay . He came to the county in 1871 andsettled in Oysterville, the county seat . His circuit included the various communities fromWoodard's Landing (Old Willapa) to Chinook . In those days, there were few roads, sotransportation was by trail, foot or horseback, and by water, oars or sail .

The first official church building of any denomination in Pacific County was built inOysterville in 1872 through the combined efforts of DeVore and Dennison (refer toSou'wester, Volume II, No . 4, 1967, pages 61, 62, and 80) . Property for the church andparsonage was acquired in July by the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church ofOysterville from Isaac A . (co-founder of Oysterville) and Henrietta L . Clark . The trusteesreported that the church was dedicated in 1872 and completed in 1873 at a cost of around$1500. The old wooden church stood for nearly 48 years until it was blown down in thegale of January 29, 1921 .

Oysterville was a busy boomtown in the 1 870s with a large transient population andseveral saloons . The assortment of rowdy individuals who congregated in and around thepublic houses often gave the town a sporting atmosphere which Christian families founddistasteful . It was not the kind of atmosphere in which they felt comfortable holding theircamp meetings, a popular activity of Methodists during the latter part of the NineteenthCentury . To avoid it, they looked elsewhere for a more pastoral setting .

Shoalwater Bay Methodists found the locale they were looking for at Bay Center onGoose Point. Camp meetings with sermons, singing and picnicking were established thereamong the tall spruce and hemlocks in the summer of 1873 . They were continued for the

next ten years .In 1883, Isaac A . Clark suggested to local Methodists and members of the old Taylor

Street Methodist Church in Portland (many of the members of that church were spendingtheir summers on the Peninsula) that the concept of camp meetings and summer resort becombined. The group liked the idea, and an association of twenty ministers and laymenformed a corporation under the laws of Oregon State titled "The Ocean Park CampMeeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church ."

The articles of incorporation for the association were filed on May 2, 1883, in Oregon .The Taylor Street Methodist Church was listed as the headquarters of the association .Among the twenty who incorporated the association were Louis A. Banks, Thomas VanScoy, John Exon, J.D. Lee, Amadee M . Smith, J .S . Newhall, John Kenworthy, H . Han-son, J .G. Chown, H .H . Gridley, L .H. Rhodes, Rev . Albert Atwood, Rev . W.S . Harrington,Rev. Isaac Dillon, Rev . George W. Izer, Rev . H .K. Hines, Rev . E .W. Cornell, Rev . A.C .Fairchild, Rev . T.L. Sails, and Rev . William B . Osborn . Most of these men were fromPortland, except for L.H. Rhodes of Bay Center, H .H. Gridley of Vancouver, and Rev . At-wood and Rev . Dillon of Seattle . The Rev. William B . Osborn, founder of a similarMethodist camp at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, was their guiding light . He had also lived inCalifornia where he participated in the formation of another camp association at PacificGrove, near Monterey, in June 1875 .

According to several sources, Reverend Osborn chose the property purchased by theassociation for the site of its camp meetings . The resort originally encompassed 250 acreson the Long Beach Peninsula south of Oysterville overlooking the Pacific Ocean on oneside and Shoalwater Bay on the other . Approximately 147 acres were purchased from Ed-ward G . Loomis on May 29, 1883, 75 acres from Isaac and Henrietta Clark (originally part

64

-photo courtesy of Timberland Ocean Park Library

The Ocean Park campsite of the Amadee M . Smith family in 1890. The campsite was located several blocks south of Bay Avenue on Park Avenue, alsocalled "Lover's Lane" . In 1890 there were no improved streets in Ocean Park and this was one of the better kept lanes . Amadee Smith was one of theoriginal trustees of the Methodist camp association .

of the John Crellin Jr . Donation Land Claim) on August 6, 1883, and 10 acres from LouisA. Banks on August 6, 1883 . An additional 20 acres were donated by Clark and his wifeabout the same time . The first meeting of the association was held on the land July 26 toAugust 5, 1883 . These meetings continued for many summers under the open sky or in alarge tent which was erected by S .A. Matthews .

On October 8, 1883, the association dedicated and registered the Plat of Ocean Parkat the courthouse in Oysterville . The dedication was signed by Association presidentWilliam S . Harrington, and secretary Thomas L . Sails .

The resort platted by the association was on the Pacific Ocean front among the coastalpine groves. The land on the bay side was never platted by the association, and title to it waseventually sold .

The Plat of Ocean Park contained hundreds of lots (the average measuring 50 X 100feet) arranged into blocks and streets . To begin with, leases were given to members of theassociation, but in 1888 the association started selling deeds . Each deed contained prohibi-tions on the use and manufacture of intoxicating drinks, gambling and other immoral prac-tices . Today, many of the deeds still contain these prohibitions, but they are no longer en-forceable .

According to George C . Johnson, the first summer cottage in Ocean Park was con-structed in 1884 by Mr. and Mrs. Gunstrom (it is no longer standing) . The buildingmaterials were salvaged from the beach . Other summer cottages followed construction ofthe first, but most members continued to camp in tents . Among the oldest cottages stillstanding in Ocean Park from the early 1 880s are those built by J .E. Haseltine family,Lamberson family, and C .W. Gay family .

Year round residences and businesses were first built in Ocean Park between 1886and 1892 by W.D. and Adelaide Taylor, S .A. Matthews family, Sleets family, Wess Millerfamily, and Stephen Kirk family . W.D. and Adelaide Taylor built the first restaurant in 1886and the first hotel, Taylor House, in 1887 . The Sleets family built and operated the firststore . S .A . Matthews, a carpenter, built his home on Bay Avenue (outside the plat of OceanPark) and then built summer cottages for association members . The first post office wasestablished in 1890 with David E . Beechey as postmaster .

The number of cottages continued to multiply in the 1 890s and so did the number ofyear round residents . It wasn't long before they raised enough money to convert the oldTaylor restaurant on the southwest corner of Bay and Melrose Avenues into a small com-munity church with belltower . They also built a parsonage and outhouse on the property .The church building and parsonage still stand on the property but the church is now aclothing store and the parsonage is a summer cottage .

The exact date of the dissolution of the Ocean Park Camp Meeting Association is notknown . However, it probably occurred after 1888 when the association started sellingdeeds to its property . The last deeds were sold by the association in 1894 according to therecords of the County Auditor . Portland residents continued to visit the area, and build cot-tages on their lots, but organized camp meetings became an event of the past . By the turnof the century, Ocean Park was no longer a Methodist summer resort .

In September 1913 a new group incorporated the First Methodist Episcopal Church ofOcean Park under the laws of Washington State . The articles were filed in South Bend, thecounty seat, on January 10, 1914, and were signed by trustees Martha Hadley, L .L. Bush,H .E . Campbell, Vio Bitely, and Emma Matthews .

The new church was incorporated so that funds could be raised for a new church

66


Bay Avenue about 1895. Bay was the first street built in Ocean Park . It ran from theocean beach approach to Willapa Bay . This section of the avenue joined Ocean Parkand the Bay. The spruce tree in the clearing still stands on Willapa Bay in Nahcotta . Theboard walk running alongside the avenue was used by pedestrians, including childrenattending school in Nahcotta .


Crabbing and clamming on the ocean beach in 1911 . This postcard photo is datedAugust 22, 1911 . Dobbie Wiegardt, Sr., says "In the old days they would get crabs offthe beach by the tub full . They would get crabs out of the crab holes before they starteddigging for clams."

67

building on the corner of Park and Seaside Avenues . J .E . Hazeltine of Portland, whoowned a great deal of property in Ocean Park, provided half of the needed funds andchallenged the community to raise the other half . Construction started in 1913 and wascompleted in 1914 for a total cost of $3,125 . It was officially dedicated on August 9,1914, by Methodist Church District Superintendent S .S . Sullingar, D .D ., and still servesthe community. The first sermon was given by Adna Wright Leonard, D .D .

Although Ocean Park ceased being a Methodist meeting camp and summer resort inthe 1 890s, it has never stopped attracting summer visitors and new residents . Today, it isPacific County's fastest growing community . Bay Avenue, which has always been the com-munity business district, is almost always choked with the traffic of post office patrons pick-ing up their mail and shoppers visiting stores and restaurants . The pastoral setting whichfirst lured early Methodists is fast giving way to asphalted roads, landfills, and beach cot-tages of modern design, but if you look you will still find the old Ocean Park among themany narrow residential streets .

There is no way to capture the quaint beauty of Ocean Park on paper . You have towalk the shady lanes and see it for yourself .


Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company depot in Ocean Park about 1905 . This is prob-ably a typical summer crowd waiting for the Sunday afternoon (4 p.m .) "Poppa Train" tohead south for Ilwaco and the Columbia river steamers to Portland . Dobbie Wiegardt, Sr .,says "I went to work on the train in 1914 . . .We used to have twelve coaches behind us go-ing out and we would load them by the time we got to Seaview ."

68


Bay Avenue looking west toward the ocean about 1910-12 . Bay Avenue has been the main business area of Ocean Park for 100 years . None of thebuildings in this photo are standing today . Those on the right side are the Shagren Butcher shop, Morehead Company store, Alice Burch's Ice CreamParlor, and behind the trees are the Sprague house, Munsell house, and Henry Brown photographic studio . On the left side are the white fence of theClark house, the Johnson and Henry store, and the Taylor Hotel dormitory . Harold Sprague of Ocean Park identified the young boy standing over thenarrow gauge tracks of the Ilwaco Railroad as Frank Bartholomew .

-a Pacific County Historical Society photo

Ocean Park Chapel and Parsonage on the southwest corner of Bay and Melrose Avenuesabout 1906 . The chapel building was originally built in the 1880s by W .D. and AdelaideTaylor for their restaurant . During the 80s the Methodists held their prayer servicesunder the open sky or in a large tent . In the 1890s they purchased the building from theTaylors and converted it into a chapel . The chapel is now remodelled and used as astore . The parsonage is a summer cottage. The outhouse between the two is gone .

-photo courtesy of the Timberland Ocean Park Library

First Methodist Episcopal Church (now United Methodist) of Ocean Park at dedicationon August 9, 1914 . This church was built on the corner of Park and Seaside Avenuesand still serves the community . The cottage in the trees (left side of photo) was built bythe Lamberson family in 1884 and is still jointly owned by members of the family .

70


Bay Avenue looking west to the ocean beach approach about 1930 . The arch over thebeach approach can be seen in the distance .

-photo courtesy of the Timberland Ocean Par

"That Funny Story" is the caption of this postcard photo taken in the Morehead Com-pany store on Bay Avenue, June 1914 . The message on the back of the card says it wassent by Gussie Wiegardt to her brother John . On the left is Mr. Campbell, store clerk, inthe center is "Grandpa" Edwin J. Sprague, and on the right is Dave Heath, clerk at theMorehead store in Nahcotta. The Ocean Park store was only open during the summer.

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-a Pacific County Historical Society map

Map showing the grounds of the Ocean Park Camp Meeting Association in 1890 . The Methodists platted Ocean Park in October 1883 . Isaac A . Clark add-

ed his addition in February 1884 . "No liquor selling or Sabbath desecration", "Families may be safe from all contaminating influences", and "Thesport and the tough are not welcome at this place" were among the slogans used by the association to sell lots . Notice the lake on the left side of the map .

It was called Wesley Lake by residents . In the 1930s the lake was drained by the CCC and became the drainage canal connecting Loomis Lake and the

ocean. The map was drawn by a lithographer named Walling of Portland, Oregon . It was given to the Society in the name of Mr . Stocking and Mr . Fred

Van Deren of Longview in May 1971 .

I

S.A. Matthews HouseEditor's Note: The S.A. Matthews House is located on the northeast corner of Bay and BroadwayAvenues on the eastern edge of Ocean Park. It is a two story, ten room, frame house and was designedand built by Stephen Adelbert Matthews, a native of Edgecomb, Maine. Matthews came to the Penin-sula in 1888, lived in Oysterville a short time, built his house, and moved his family into it onNovember 2, 1891 . He was married to Artimessia O'Neil, the daughter of an Oregon pioneer, and hadsix children. One of his daughters told Lucile McDonald for her 1969 book Where the WashingtoniansLived that "Whatever Dad built had to be perfect and it had to be solid . We used to say if he put upanything you couldn't tear it down ; you'd have to burn it." Matthews died In his house on July 26,1934, at the age of 82. Many of his grandchildren still live in Ocean Park and on the Peninsula . Abiographical sketch of Matthews, by Mildred R. Kananen of Ilwaco, appeared in the Sou'wester 1966(Volume I, No . 2, page 39) .

The Matthews House now belongs to Louise E. Rice of Ocean Park . Roy, her hus-band, purchased it from one of the Matthews sons in April 1952 . Roy died in July 1966 .During their ownership the house has been commonly referred to as the WhaleboneHouse. The name derived from the whalebones Roy beachcombed and arranged in thefront yard in the 1950s .

The house was placed on the Washington State Register of Historic Places onFebruary 24, 1978 . The honor was bestowed because the house is an excellent example oflocal pioneer architecture and the builder was actively involved in the development ofOcean Park . It is said of Mr. Matthews that he built half of the community's early beach cot-tages .

-Larry Weathers collection, Pacific County Historical Society

Foundation post from the S.A. Mat-thews House . Restoration of the foun-dation and porch by Mrs. Louise Rice(utilizing a matching grant from thestate of Washington) in 1979 requiredthat the post be removed . The "M"was Mr. Matthews trademark .

74

-Charles Fitzpatrick photo, Pacific County Historical Society

S.A. Matthews as the "Old Mariner" .Matthews, a carpenter, was noted forhis sense of humor . He was talked intoposing in a sou'wester for thisphotograph by Charles Fitzpatrick ofOcean Park . Later, artist Joe Knowlesused the photo to paint Matthewsstanding at the helm of a sailing ship ina raging storm .

4

6.

-photo courtesy of the Timberland Ocean Park Library

S.A. Matthews House on the northeast corner of Bay and Broadway Avenues about1910. Harold Sprague of Ocean Park says that Mrs . Matthews loved to grow flowers onher porch and eventually had it glassed-in to protect them . Mr. Matthews died in 1934 .Mrs. Matthews continued to live in the house until her death in 1940 .

Larry Weathers collection Pacific County Historical Society

Matthews House in 1979. Local residents also refer to the house as the "WhaleboneHouse" . The name is derived from the whalebones displayed in the yard by owners Royand Louise Rice .

75

No

Ocean Park CottagesEditor's Note: The streets of Ocean Park are lined with a wonderful variety of architectural styles fromanother era. A few examples will be found below and on the following pages. They run the gamut fromthe three room beach cottage (building materials were often salvaged from the nearby dunes) to themore substantial bungalow style house. Many of them have been owned by the same family since theirconstruction and pride of ownership is often marked by their well kept appearance .

Many of the cottages of Ocean Park have names . Among those that are marked are : Shambala,Old Faithful, Tootie's 1893, Shangri-la, Gilbert's Getaway, The Vera Alice, Lamberson Cottage, GayCottage 1890, Seahouse of the August Moon 1910, Tuo Raey 1915, Holliday House, Ol' Hermitage,Door House, The Wreckage, Kettenring Cottage, Oceanview, The Pilot House 1896, Seldom Inn,King's Haven, Larson and Co ., Trondsen's Cottage, Siewert Cottage, The Fat Captain, S .A. MatthewsHouse, Beecheze, Nielson Cottage, George C. Johnson House 1913, the Zephyrs Cottage, WickbergCottage, The Normandin's Since 1899, and the Duboiss Cottage .

-Larry Weathers collection, Pa cific County Historical Society

The James E. Haseltine Cottage on Bay Avenue is one of the oldest still standing inOcean Park . It was built around 1884 by Haseltine, a Portland businessman . He wasalso a state senator in the Oregon legislature . He helped found Ocean Park and even-tually owned many of the lots . Later he built a larger cottage and moved out of this one .The outdoor privy still stands behind the cottage but is no longer used . Miss FayeBeaver, granddaughter of the founder of Seaview, now owns the cottage .


The Clam Cottage on Melrose Avenue was built in the 1890s . It was used as the par-sonage for the Ocean Park Chapel on the corner of Bay and Melrose Avenues for manyyears. Today it is a private summer cottage .

7 6


The Pilot House or Judge Stearns' Cottage on Park Avenue was built in 1896 . L.B .Stearns was a county judge for three years and circuit court judge for thirteen years inMultnomah County, Oregon . He retired in 1898 for health reasons and spent many ofhis remaining years in Ocean Park. Both he and J .E. Haseltine were noted for organizingclam-bakes, excursions on the bay and clamming and crabbing parties . It was said thathe kept the society at Ocean Park on a high moral plane.


The Dr. David Newman Cottage on the northwest corner of Vernon and SeasideAvenues was built around 1895. The Newman family used the cottage as a summerretreat and also leased it to renters . In 1954 they sold it to Charles H . Fitzpatrick,photographer and artist, who lived in it until he moved to Vancouver in 1959 . Fitzpatrickdied on September 28, 1971, at the age of 87 .

77


The George C . Johnson house on the northwest corner of Grove and Melrose Avenues

was built in 1913 . It is said that George and Mary Johnson mapped their "cottage" floorplan in the ocean beach sand . The cottage appeared smaller than they wanted whenoutlined in the sand, so they increased the dimensions . To their surprise they ended up

with more than a cottage .

-a Pacific County Historical S o ciety photo

The Door House on the southwest corner of Wabash and Melrose Avenues was built byHarry A. Haseltine, son of J .E ., around 1906-07. It is one of Ocean Park's most unusualcottages because the walls are composed entirely of cedar paneled doors . The doorswere originally used in a pavilion at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon,in 1905. The doors were originally visible both inside and out (some of them had slotseasily

house lforbyearsebecaruse of its bright

exteriorin 1945

~paint.Today,Tourists easily had tonal

beach gray color.

78

Ocean Park Post Office

Established June 28, 1890

Postmasters

"Please God,Don't Make Me a Porpoise"

recalled by Beulah Wickberg

Among the many men who came to Pacific County in the 1850s was one named John

Corlett, a native of the Isle of Man (Great Britain) . According to records in the office of the

Pacific County Auditor, Mr . Corlett became a naturalized citizen in 1859 at Oysterville .

Beulah Wickberg of Ocean Park, who will be 90 years old in 1984, is a treasure-chest

of stories about the area and recalls one about Mr . Corlett told by her mother, Mrs. Evelyn

Clark Slingerland (Mrs. Slingerland was the daughter of I .A. Clark, co-founder of Oyster-

ville) . It seems that Mr. Corlett was a frequent church-goer who could often be seen kneel-

ing and praying in the Ocean Park Chapel on Bay Avenue . Once he was overheard praying

aloud in his heavy Isle of Man accent "Please God, don't make me a porpoise ." Obviously,

he was afraid of becoming a pauper, but had trouble pronouncing the word correctly .

79

NAME DATE OF APPOINTMENT

David E. Beechey June 28, 1890

Florence H . Leckley

Emma S. Campbell

December 3, 1904

March 25, 1919

William C. Pearson May 23, 1927

Robert F. Whitten March 31, 1955

Mildred Watters January 14, 1978

The Wreckageby Larry Weathers

Editor's Note: The Wreckage is a beach cabin. In the summer of 1979 it was placed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places . The story which follows is edited from the nomination form I wrote andpresented to the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation April 30, 1979 .

Guy Selwin Allison was the creator and builder of the Wreckage in 1912 . He was bornin Hannibal, Mo ., in 1883, and came to the Washington coast as a young man . Beginningin 1898 he spent his summers on the Peninsula with his brother, J .C. (Joseph Clarence),and his sister, Mrs . Bertha Allison Tompkins, a pioneer teacher in Pacific County . In 1906he attended the Normal School in Bellingham and later taught school in Tacoma from1907 to 1909 . In the 1 930s he became famous on the west coast for his syndicated col-umn "Bypaths of History" . He also wrote thousands of short stories for various publica-tions, published a book of poems in 1918, and authored pamphlets concerning the life ofPresident Lincoln, James G . Swan, and others . Many of his works were written at his deskin the Wreckage .

The twenty-five miles of windy peninsula beach and the busy resort village of OceanPark attracted Guy from his first visit . In early spring 1910 he purchased two lots in the platof Ocean Park with his brother J .C. In August, Guy and his bride, Virginia, spent theirhoneymoon in a tent on the newly purchased property . It wasn't until the winter of 1911


The Wreckage on Cambridge Avenue was built by Guy S . Allison in 1912 . The RoyGardner family have owned it since 1976 .

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The rock fireplace was designed byJ.C. Allison, Guy's brother, in 1915 . Awhiskey bottle was imbedded in thehearth as a time capsule .


Guy Allison designed and filled thecabin rooms with furniture made ofdriftwood . A bedroom set made ofsilver-barked alder still stands in one ofthe upstairs bedrooms .

-photo courtesy of Timberland Ocean Park bear.

Maggie and Jiggs of the Wreckage take their "Hiposwinocerous" for a walk in the 1930s .Guy Allison claimed all of his driftwood shapes were sculptured by the sea . Closer in-spection revealed they weren't .

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that plans were made for a permanent beach cabin .In the winter of 1911, a huge raft of fir logs headed for San Francisco crossed the Col-

umbia River bar and split apart in high seas . Tugboats were unable to hold the large rafttogether and for the next few weeks logs were hurled upon the beaches from TillamookHead, Oregon, to Leadbetter Point, Washington . Guy saw the logs bleaching in the sunnear Ocean Park and pulled them behind the sand ridge to his property .

During the same winter a steam freighter named the Washington narrowly averteddisaster inside the mouth of the Columbia . The crew jettisoned a large portion of thetongue-and-groove lumber on board allowing the freighter to draw back from the sandspits .High winds and surf piled much of the jetsam on the beaches. Walking among the debrisGuy conceived the idea of combining the logs and lumber into a loghouse which he whim-sically dubbed "The Wreckage" .

In the "Register of the Wreckage", an informal history of the cabin, Guy wrote that it"seemed a wonderful opportunity to procure material for a house ." The cabin pattern hehad in mind was based on a log-fluted blockhouse he had seen in Sitka, Alaska . His cabinwas the only structure erected from the deposits of the two Columbia River calamities. "Theremainder was either used as firewood, or has rotted on the beach", according to theregister .

The Wreckage register comes in three volumes . The first was started on July 9, 1913,and closed on September 7, 1927 . It contains lists of guests, a history of the construction, afew pictures and anecdotes connected with guests and parties held there . Volume two ismuch larger and was started for Guy by his brother on September 7, 1927 . J.C. wrote thatit was "intended to provide the means for continuing the story of those who will make thishouse their vacation home, and to be a register for the visitors who enjoy itshospitality . . . .Since volume number one of the register was started, G .S. Allison, builderand owner, estimates 5000 persons have entered its doors ." Both registers are now in thepossession of the Roy Gardner family, current owners, who have started a third volume .

The register records that the only tools used in the work of erecting the cabin were anaxe, saw, hatchet, screwdriver, froe, and block and tackle . Guy, J.C., and friends did thecarpentry work . Among the friends was Zetley Matthews . Zetley, like his father S .A., was alocal carpenter who had a hand in building many of the beach cabins of Ocean Park .

The interior furnishings of the cabin enhanced the reputation of the Wreckage just asmuch as the exterior did . The logs were left unhewn on the inside and the flooring on bothlevels was made from the salvaged tongue-and-groove lumber . The fireplace was designedby J.C. in the spring of 1915 from 1000 rocks brought from a quarry on the north point ofLong Island, in Willapa Bay . The Allisons imbedded a whiskey bottle in the concrete as atime capsule and stuffed it with newspapers and memorabilia . In an Oregonian article writ-ten in July 1931 by novelist and historian Walker A . Tompkins, nephew of Guy and J .C .,Guy is quoted as saying, "The christening liquor was poured on the house, not down thenecks of the builders ."

In the 1 930s Guy planned to open the Wreckage as a museum, or what he referred toas the "Flotsam and Jetsam Brothers Zoo" . Later, he had a brochure printed which calledhis cabin "The Wreckage Zoo" . The main attraction of the zoo was to be his private collec-tion of fifty animals shaped from driftwood . He claimed the driftwood shapes he displayedwere natural shapes from the sea. Closer inspection revealed that he had cemented some ofhis zoo pieces together to get the shape he desired .

The zoo never did open . Mrs. Allison objected to her husband's idea, and he diverted

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his energy to other projects . Only a couple of the animals survive today . Pictures show thata fence was made out of the collection, and it is likely that passers-by borrowed pieces of itover the years . During the time that Guy was planning the grand opening, the collectionwas the subject of a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" item and a Hix's "Strange As It Seems"cartoon .

At one time, there were several smaller out-buildings on the property surrounding theWreckage. Several decades of neglect and continuing deterioration required that they beremoved. One of the buildings was a double garage with a living loft overhead . It was builtin 1926 and nicknamed "The Wreckagette" . Another was a Finnish sauna and privy builtin 1928. It was nicknamed "The Wrectorium" .

There are lots of resort cabins on the Peninsula which were built from salvagedmaterials from the sea, but few of them are as unique as the Wreckage .

From An Ocean Park Postcardsubmitted by Marcel King

Editor's Note : Marcel King, owner of King's Haven cottage in Ocean Park, submitted this short notefrom a postcard dated August 8, 1910 . She said the card was shown to her by Errol Phillips of OceanPark. The women involved were relatives of his .

Dear Sister :

Arthur wanted Walter to ask about rooms down here at Taylor Hotel . The priceis $10.00 a piece, a week, but Daisy Coe has a room and will give you the useof a kitchen for $5 .00 a week. Let us know at once . $5 .00 for both . We are allwell and having a fine time . With love to all .

Josie


Taylor Hotel around 1920 . William D . Taylor came to Pacific County in 1876 . Duringhis lifetime he drove the stagecoach from Ilwaco to Oysterville, was CountySheriff/Assessor 1883-84, and with his wife Adelaide Stuart Taylor, owned andoperated the Taylor Hotel. The main building (with automobile In front) was built around1887 and still stands. The dormitory building (center) was built later and torn down in1931 . William died in 1919. Adelaide remarried, and continued to operate the businessuntil she died in 1940 .

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-Burke Dietrich family collection, Pacific Loamy Historical SocietyThe French ship Alice was stranded on the beach opposite Ocean Park on the stormymorning of January 15, 1909 . The full-rigged ship had twenty-four men on board and acargo of cement . It was bound from London by way of Tasmania to Portland . CaptainAubert and his crew were all saved . The ship and the 3,000 tons of cement were neversalvaged .

-a Pacific County Historical Society photoWillie Taylor, son of W.D. and Adelaide, was the first to spot the wreck of the Alice fromthe sand ridge at the Ocean Park beach approach . The crew of the ship stayed at theTaylor Hotel until they could be transported to Portland .

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Documents

C50 01,e ou'W'e tef' - Pacific County Historical Societypacificcohistory.org/SouWester/1983 Winter.pdfC 50 01,e 8ou'W'e SINCE 1966 tef' WINTER 1983 Published Quarterly by the Pacific