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 north 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.
