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The Ties That Bind...

Kathy Jaquet--Discovered Moclips in 1982 when she and her husband purchased beach property here.  By train, her mother had visited Moclips in 1918 from Oregon.  For 13 years Kathy had owned Falcon's Rest Gift Shop (now closed).  The building had at one time been rented by Christopher Boyce, the "Falcon" in The Falcon and the Snowman.    She displayed a picture of the old Hotel for her customers but soon, her interest and photo display multiplied.  With Chuck and Eloise Hansen, they decided to compile a history of Moclips.  The research is never ending.  With each new piece of information, new questions open up.

Lee Marriott--An artist, he moved to Moclips from Mtn. Home, Id in 1999.  It was his lifelong dream to have a studio at the beach.  For years he visited his paternal grandparents in Ocean Shores, Red and Marian Marriott.  The property that he owns in Moclips with his maternal grandfather, Guy Anderson, once belonged to Dr. Lycan.  The trees were harvested from this area to build the Moclips Beach Hotel.

Kelly Calhoun--Also a resident since 1999 with his family ties that go back to the 1910's.  He recently learned that he is related (by marriage) to a photographer who took many of the old vintage Moclips photos-before and after the storms that took out the hotel and other buildings.  His paternal grandmother came to Moclips from the Auburn area to attend dances at the Breakers Pavilion in the early 1920's.

Why Moclips?

Fascinated with the old days here at the beach, we yearned for more photos and information about the Moclips Beach Hotel, the canneries, the shingle mills, the N.P. Railroad, the many other businesses that once lined Pacific Avenue and the people that called Moclips their home.

To look at Moclips today, you would never know how exciting this little town used to be when 5,000 folks from Aberdeen and Hoquiam would come out by train for a ONE day picnic.  The stories of the hardships, the disasters, the fun times and the everyday life are treasures to keep.

We intend to bring back those exciting years and preserve them in a new book currently being written by Kathy Jaquet.  Anyone with stories or information are requested to send them to barnacle@olynet.com or PO Box 44, Moclips, WA 98562.  If you would like yo be on the reserve list for this book, please let us know.  A feature edition of the MOCLIPS OCEAN WAVE will announce the book's completion.

This newsletter is named after the first newspaper from Moclips, the MOCLIPS OCEAN WAVE.  Published in 1909 it only lasted a few issues.  We intend to be around a lot longer.

Membership

This first MOCLIPS OCEAN WAVE newsletter is COMPLIMENTARY to all who have received it.  Due to the expenses of putting this together, future copies will only be sent to our members.  If you do not want this newsletter, please pass it on to someone else.  Our mission and goals are in sight and we are determined to see them through.  We cannot do it alone-we need your assistance and financial support.

We are in the process of applying for a nonprofit organization status with the State of Washington.  With this comes registering the name we chose: MOCLIPS-BY-THE-SEA.  We have discussed what would be fair and appropriate for the dues structure and have come up with the following:

Jim and Rita (Northrup) Evans have been kind enough to let us enlarge numerous vintage Moclips photos taken by Rita's great uncle, Dale Northrup.  His photos capture the glamour, the hardship and the unusual-from auto races on the beach to the vicious aftermath of the storms that destroyed parts of Moclips.  These great photos will be on display in the museum.  THANK YOU Jim and Rita for your generosity. 

Here is an artists rendition of the 2nd Moclips Beach Hotel (1907-1911).  You may have seen this one before.  It has been featured in the Daily World more than once and was the first used as an advertisement piece for the hotel corporation.  The building was shaped like the letter "E" and contained 270 "outside" rooms.  

This is the second of two hotels located on this spot.  The first was a 2-story affair built in 1905 and shortly thereafter destroyed by fire.  We will be featuring other vintage photos of Moclips in future issues of the MOCLIPS OCEAN WAVE.

Interviews

With tape recorder in hand, we have had the great opportunity of talking with several former and current residents of Moclips.  They're stories are varied and fascinating-adding a personal touch to those memories.  We have acquired an abundance of worthwhile information.

We have had many facts verified which will help us to portray Moclips exactly as it was.  Some misconceptions have been corrected.  We have learned so much about what it was like to live in this wonderful community.

The following have been interviewed:

Keith Armstrong, Beverly (Dyer) Calloway, Doris (Norstad) Casserly, Ed Lycan & Family, Duffy & Ann Matson. Gene McKinney, Harold Schmidtke, Harvey Scott, Jack Sleasman, Truman Tanner, Barbara Topete, Roy Tottie, Maxine & Don Weese and and Les & Sylvia Winningham.

The following have provided source material:

John Boyle, Jerry & James Dunford and Laura Jacobson.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to those (past and present) who have given up their time to tell us about their Moclips life and experiences.

We want to hear from you!!  If you or someone you know camn offer information about the past, please contact us.  We'd love to talk to you.

Centennial Celebration

Although Moclips was originally platted in 1902, we have documentation that proves Moclips was established in 1905.  This was the same year that the first Moclips Beach Hotel was built and the Northern Pacific completed its line at the beach.

With this in mind, we need to come up with a date (perhaps a week) during the year 2005 that will become known as the 'MOCLIPS-BY-THE-SEA Centennial'.  Some discussion has been hashed around and one thought was possibly the first week in July (around the Fourth).  This was when the first Moclips Beach Hotel was opened to the public and the Northern Pacific Railway had just recently been completed.

Your input would be much appreciated!  Give us your ideas on when the celebration should take place.  Also on the agenda are the many ideas on what should be done.  Here are a few:

Paint a mural depicting life in early Moclips.
Build model of town from its heyday.
Produce maps of historical sites.
Markers for historical points of interest.
Museum ready for 2005
Vintage bathing suit contest.
Request the state add "CENTENNIAL" on all signs.
Have our story aired on "EVENING MAGAZINE"

Let us know your thoughts and ideas.  We'd love to hear from you.

Meetings

In order for us to "get our act together", we need to have a meeting of the minds-several of them!!  We are discussing how often these meeting should be and where.  If you have an idea, please let us know.  We'd also want you to be a part of this by attending and giving us your input.

Museum

We have a tentative location for the Historical Museum.  We are not sure how long it will be available but for now the donated space is much appreciated.  For the big centennial celebration in 2005, the museum will be a central part of the facilities.  At some time after the 100th birthday bash, we have discussed turning into a NORTH BEACH museum to include artifacts, photos and the like from Ocean Shores to Taholah including Aloha and Carlisle.  One central museum for all of the North Beach communities.  Already we have collected items from the North Beach including vintage Taholah photos, a Copalis Beach camping permit from the 1930's, tokens from Carlisle Lumber Company, a book of matches from Ginny Sim's Restaurant in Ocean Shores and her record albulm recorded there in 1962.

Let us know what you think.

Moclips Artifacts

Two souvenir plates made in Germany are the latest Moclips treasures to come back home.  These small (6") Wheelock plates were made for the E.E. Sutherland Company in Moclips around 1910 or so.  Both of these images are portrayed on vintage hand-tinted postcards of the same era (also made in Germany).  Speaking of postcards, we have about 20 old Moclips images from 1906 to the 1920's.  We also have an old Razor Clam can (Quinhalt brand) from Moclips, a souvenir spoon from the Moclips Beach Hotel and 40 years of yearbooks from Moclips schools!  All these items will be on display at the museum.

Note: The yearbooks were donated to us and will always be a part of the collection.  The other items will be on loan to the museum indefinitely.

If you have an item to donate/loan, let us know.