Moclips
originated as a Quinault village along the Moclips River. It
was a place where young women, having reached puberty were sequestered.
The belief was that they needed purification and Moclips actually
refers to "bloody waters". The girls were kept isolated
so as not to bring harm to the salmon run or to affect a poor
whale hunt.
When
the Spaniards first landed at Santiago beach (the beach
adjacent to the Moclips River which runs to Point Grenville),
as the story goes, the first landing party encountered a peaceful
meeting with the natives there. A cross was erected, and another
later group of Spaniards came ashore at a nearby point. These
seven men were masacred by the Quinault warriors that were guarding
the spot. The specific location of this masacre is disputed,
but it is said that there were young women kept up the river
there and this leads us to believe that it was likely the Moclips
River.
In
the early 1900's the definition of the word Moclips was altered
to be more palatable to the white tourists that came by the thousands
to the young resort community. In the first issue of the Moclips
newspaper "Moclips Ocean Wave" published in 1909 an
article relating this definition was printed. According to Mrs.
Robert Chabot who wrote the story Moclips means placid waters.
It is also around this period that the beach at Moclips was named
Moonstone (or Agate) Beach, due to the fact that these wonderful
stones were said to be found in bountiful supply.
Moclips
was homesteaded by Steve Grover in 1862. In 1902 Dr. Edward Lycan,
Robert Chabot and their wives purchased the property and filed
a plat map with the early Chehalis County (now Grays Harbor County).
Historical records indicate that much of the property was actually
purchased by Robert Chabot and then parcelled out and sold through
his real estate business. It wasn't until 1905 that the new town
became official. This was when the western most terminus of the
Northern Pacific Railway was completed at Moclips and the first Moclips
Beach Hotel was completed. The town soon became populated
with restaurants, hotels, confectioners, canneries, a butcher,
a jeweler, a theatre, merchantiles and the M.R. Smith Lumber
and Shingle Mill. On July 2, 1905 the first Moclips Beach Hotel
held its grand opening. Moclips became the mecca for vacationers
who came to the beach by the thousands on the Northern Pacific.
Before
the Northern Pacific completed the line to Moclips, the only
way to reach Moclips (as well as Pacific Beach) was by wagon
via the beach; so, the final completion of the railway was a
real boon to the economy. Both in terms of the tourists that
it brought and because it transported the shingles from the local
mills, and canned razor clams and salmon from the local canneries.
Initially the track was extended from Copalis Crossing to the
beach to bring tourists to the Hotel. In addition to the depot
at Moclips, there was a whistle stop along the beach at Sunset
Beach and still another was located near the center of Pacific
Beach. The depot was run by a woman who lived upstairs. In the
1950's, the depot was torn down. The area where it was located
is what is now state park land near 4th and Railroad Avenues.
The tracks from Moclips to Hoquiam were torn up in the early
1980's.
Pacific Beach