Moclips, Washington
Encyclopedia
Moclips is a census-designated place
(CDP) in Grays Harbor County
, Washington, United States
. The population was 207 at the 2010 census. It is located near the mouth of the Moclips River
.
According to Edmond S. Meany
the word moclips comes from a Quinault
word meaning a place where girls were sent as they were approaching puberty. However, according to William Bright, the name comes from the Quinault word meaning, simply, "large stream".
tribe along the coast north of Grays Harbor and the Upper and Lower Chehalis
tribes of the lower Chehalis River drainage. Other groups included the Copalis, Wynoochee, and Humptulips subtribes of the Upper Chehalis subtribe, and the Satsop subtribe of the Lower Chehalis.
By Quinault tradition, the Great Spirit called all the animals together and described how he would place humans on the earth. These he called Quinault. The Chehalis, Quinault, Cowlitz, and Queets spoke Coast Salish languages related to other Salishan language groups in the Northwest. The Quileute and Hoh spoke unrelated Chimakuan languages
while the Makah spoke a Wakashan language
, also unrelated. To the south the Chinookan
people spoke yet another family of unrelated languages, the Chinookan languages
. All the tribes also used a trade pidgin
called Chinook Jargon
.
The area's indigenous people lived in permanent villages along rivers and lakes. Water defined their economic and cultural lives. They harvested salmon
as they swam upstream to spawn, as well as whales and seals along the coast. In the summers, hunters ranged inland and into the Olympic Mountains
for game and to trade with other tribal groups. The Indians developed a high degree of skill with canoes carved from cedar trees in a variety of specialized designs adapted to swift-flowing rivers, broad estuaries, and the sea.
The Quinault's first recorded contact with Europeans, in 1775 near Grenville Point, ended in the deaths of seven Spaniards and as many as seven Indians. The Indians had traded peacefully with the explorers, but turned on them after the Spaniards landed, erected a cross, and claimed the land for the Spanish king. The reason for the sudden attack remains unexplained, but tribal historians have offered the possibility that the Europeans had violated a woman's safe haven.
In 1792, Captain Robert Gray discovered Grays Harbor and entered the Columbia River
, the first non-indigenous people to have done so. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to explore the vast interior between the Missouri River
and the Pacific Ocean. Although the expedition cemented American claims to Oregon Country
it failed to find a practical wagon route. It wasn't until the Oregon Trail
began to be used by American settlers in the 1840s that British control of the Pacific Northwest, in the form of the Hudson's Bay Company
, became challenged.
Contact with Europeans and the frequent interaction between tribes accelerated the several epidemics that swept the region beginning with smallpox in the 1770s and continuing with what was likely malaria in 1829, cholera in 1836, and smallpox again in 1853. The native population dropped from thousands to a few dozen. So many Chinooks died around Willapa Bay
in the 1850s that the Chehalis moved in to take their place.
In 1855, after the creation of Washington Territory
, the Quinault Treaty
was signed by Chief Taholah of the Quinault and Chief How-yat'l of the Quileute, among with many other tribal delegates. One result of the treaty was the creation of the roughly triangular shaped Quinault Indian Reservation between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Quinault
.
The first American settlers came to the North Beach
area in the mid-19th century. Many homesteaded with 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of fine timber.
Although settled earlier by homesteaders such as Steve Grover in 1862, Moclips was not incorporated until 1905 with the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway
and the first Moclips Beach Hotel built by Dr. Edward Lycan. The hotel was a two story, 150 room beachside resort. It burned down in 1905, just months after it was completed. Dr. Lycan then had a new, larger hotel built on the same site. It was three stories high, a block long, it loomed from the dunes. This Moclips Beach Hotel was completed in 1907 and advertised as having 270 “outside” rooms, with 2000 ft (609.6 m) of 10 ft (3 m) covered veranda, and a perfect view of the Pacific Ocean, reported to be just 12 feet (3.7 m) from the hotel grounds. This close proximity to the ocean, however, would prove its undoing.
Back then Moclips was publicized as a healthy get away from the toil and trouble of city life. It was a health resort. The moist salt air and bathing in the surf was touted as very medicinal. A promotional pamphlet of the time purports Moclips’ climate to be “simply perfect”. Dr. Lycan believed that Moclips was the Mecca for health and pleasure of the Northwest.
Moclips grew into a sizable town with restaurants, hotels, a candy store, theater, canneries, and the M.R. Smith Lumber and Shingle Mill. Many hotels, schools, canneries and shingle mills were quickly built. Four schools once taught children from Taholah
to Ocean Shores
. Class schedules for the local schools were based on the clamming tides. Two of these buildings exist today.
In 1911 Moclips was struck by a series of fatal storms, eventually washing much of the town away. Moclips Beach Hotel stood in pieces. By the end of 1913, there was nothing left of the hotel. Fires destroyed much of Moclips along the beach. In 1948 a hilltop welding accident destroyed many homes and businesses.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force made the neighboring town of Pacific Beach
their home during World War II. The Navy still occupies property along the bluff in Pacific Beach - now a recreational use center for the military.
In 1960, a second wave of tourism began with the inception of Ocean Shores Estates. According to yearly polls by Evening Magazine, this resort town is consistently near the top of places to visit being number two behind Seattle.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 615 people, 273 households, and 146 families residing in the CDP. The population density
was 189.1 people per square mile (73.1/km²). There were 565 housing units at an average density of 173.7/sq mi (67.1/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 64.72% White, 0.16% African American, 24.72% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.49% Pacific Islander, 2.44% from other races
, and 6.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.15% of the population.
There were 273 households out of which 17.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were married couples
living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 31.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $32,045. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income
for the CDP was $17,411. About 8.1% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in Grays Harbor County
Grays Harbor County, Washington
Grays Harbor County is a county in the state of Washington, in the United States of America. As of 2010, the population was 72,797. The county seat is at Montesano, and its largest city is Aberdeen. The county is named after a large estuarine bay near its southwestern corner...
, Washington, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 207 at the 2010 census. It is located near the mouth of the Moclips River
Moclips River
The Moclips River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. It is about long. Its main tributary, the North Fork Moclips River, is longer than the main stem. The length of the North Fork, along with the lower main stem below the North Fork's confluence, is...
.
According to Edmond S. Meany
Edmond S. Meany
Edmond S. Meany was a professor of botany and history at the University of Washington and a UW alumnus, having graduated as the valedictorian of his class in 1885...
the word moclips comes from a Quinault
Quinault (tribe)
The Quinault are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States.-Lands:The Quinault Indian Reservation, at , is located on the Pacific coast of Washington, primarily in northwestern Grays Harbor County, with small parts extending north into southwestern Jefferson...
word meaning a place where girls were sent as they were approaching puberty. However, according to William Bright, the name comes from the Quinault word meaning, simply, "large stream".
History
The indigenous inhabitants of the area were members of the QuinaultQuinault (tribe)
The Quinault are a group of Native American peoples from western Washington in the United States.-Lands:The Quinault Indian Reservation, at , is located on the Pacific coast of Washington, primarily in northwestern Grays Harbor County, with small parts extending north into southwestern Jefferson...
tribe along the coast north of Grays Harbor and the Upper and Lower Chehalis
Chehalis (tribe)
The Chehalis people are a native people of westernWashington state in the United States. They should not be confused with the similarly named Chehalis First Nation of the Harrison River in the Fraser Valley area of British Columbia....
tribes of the lower Chehalis River drainage. Other groups included the Copalis, Wynoochee, and Humptulips subtribes of the Upper Chehalis subtribe, and the Satsop subtribe of the Lower Chehalis.
By Quinault tradition, the Great Spirit called all the animals together and described how he would place humans on the earth. These he called Quinault. The Chehalis, Quinault, Cowlitz, and Queets spoke Coast Salish languages related to other Salishan language groups in the Northwest. The Quileute and Hoh spoke unrelated Chimakuan languages
Chimakuan languages
The Chimakuan language family consists of two languages spoken in northwestern Washington, USA on the Olympic Peninsula. It is part of the Mosan sprachbund, and one of its languages is famous for having no nasal consonants...
while the Makah spoke a Wakashan language
Wakashan languages
Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca....
, also unrelated. To the south the Chinookan
Chinookan
Chinook refers to several native amercain groups of in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, speaking the Chinookan languages. In the early 19th century, the Chinookan-speaking peoples lived along the lower and middle Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Washington...
people spoke yet another family of unrelated languages, the Chinookan languages
Chinookan languages
Chinookan is a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples.-Family division:Chinookan languages consists of three languages with multiple varieties. There is some dispute over classification, and there are two ISO 639-3 codes assigned: and...
. All the tribes also used a trade pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
called Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
.
The area's indigenous people lived in permanent villages along rivers and lakes. Water defined their economic and cultural lives. They harvested salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
as they swam upstream to spawn, as well as whales and seals along the coast. In the summers, hunters ranged inland and into the Olympic Mountains
Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains is a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington in the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high - Mount Olympus is the highest at - but the western slopes of the Olympics rise directly out of the Pacific...
for game and to trade with other tribal groups. The Indians developed a high degree of skill with canoes carved from cedar trees in a variety of specialized designs adapted to swift-flowing rivers, broad estuaries, and the sea.
The Quinault's first recorded contact with Europeans, in 1775 near Grenville Point, ended in the deaths of seven Spaniards and as many as seven Indians. The Indians had traded peacefully with the explorers, but turned on them after the Spaniards landed, erected a cross, and claimed the land for the Spanish king. The reason for the sudden attack remains unexplained, but tribal historians have offered the possibility that the Europeans had violated a woman's safe haven.
In 1792, Captain Robert Gray discovered Grays Harbor and entered the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, the first non-indigenous people to have done so. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
to explore the vast interior between the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and the Pacific Ocean. Although the expedition cemented American claims to Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
it failed to find a practical wagon route. It wasn't until the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
began to be used by American settlers in the 1840s that British control of the Pacific Northwest, in the form of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, became challenged.
Contact with Europeans and the frequent interaction between tribes accelerated the several epidemics that swept the region beginning with smallpox in the 1770s and continuing with what was likely malaria in 1829, cholera in 1836, and smallpox again in 1853. The native population dropped from thousands to a few dozen. So many Chinooks died around Willapa Bay
Willapa Bay
Willapa Bay is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of water surface Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the United States Pacific coast...
in the 1850s that the Chehalis moved in to take their place.
In 1855, after the creation of Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, the Quinault Treaty
Quinault Treaty
The Quinault Treaty was a treaty agreement between the United States and the Native American Quinault and Quileute tribes located in the western Olympic Peninsula north of Grays Harbor, in the recently-formed Washington Territory...
was signed by Chief Taholah of the Quinault and Chief How-yat'l of the Quileute, among with many other tribal delegates. One result of the treaty was the creation of the roughly triangular shaped Quinault Indian Reservation between the Pacific Ocean and Lake Quinault
Lake Quinault
Lake Quinault is a lake on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state, USA. It is located in the glacial-carved Quinault Valley of the Quinault River, at the southern edge of Olympic National Park in the northwestern United States...
.
The first American settlers came to the North Beach
Pacific Beach, Washington
Pacific Beach is an unincorporated community in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, by the Pacific Ocean. There are many hotels there and a stretch of usable beach area is available to those who visit.-History:...
area in the mid-19th century. Many homesteaded with 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of fine timber.
Although settled earlier by homesteaders such as Steve Grover in 1862, Moclips was not incorporated until 1905 with the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
and the first Moclips Beach Hotel built by Dr. Edward Lycan. The hotel was a two story, 150 room beachside resort. It burned down in 1905, just months after it was completed. Dr. Lycan then had a new, larger hotel built on the same site. It was three stories high, a block long, it loomed from the dunes. This Moclips Beach Hotel was completed in 1907 and advertised as having 270 “outside” rooms, with 2000 ft (609.6 m) of 10 ft (3 m) covered veranda, and a perfect view of the Pacific Ocean, reported to be just 12 feet (3.7 m) from the hotel grounds. This close proximity to the ocean, however, would prove its undoing.
Back then Moclips was publicized as a healthy get away from the toil and trouble of city life. It was a health resort. The moist salt air and bathing in the surf was touted as very medicinal. A promotional pamphlet of the time purports Moclips’ climate to be “simply perfect”. Dr. Lycan believed that Moclips was the Mecca for health and pleasure of the Northwest.
Moclips grew into a sizable town with restaurants, hotels, a candy store, theater, canneries, and the M.R. Smith Lumber and Shingle Mill. Many hotels, schools, canneries and shingle mills were quickly built. Four schools once taught children from Taholah
Taholah, Washington
Taholah is a census-designated place on the Quinault Indian Reservation, in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. Named for a Quinault chief in 1905, its population was 824 at the 2000 census...
to Ocean Shores
Ocean Shores, Washington
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 3,836 people, 1,789 households, and 1,198 families residing in the city. The population density was 444.7 people per square mile . There were 3,170 housing units at an average density of 367.5 per square mile...
. Class schedules for the local schools were based on the clamming tides. Two of these buildings exist today.
In 1911 Moclips was struck by a series of fatal storms, eventually washing much of the town away. Moclips Beach Hotel stood in pieces. By the end of 1913, there was nothing left of the hotel. Fires destroyed much of Moclips along the beach. In 1948 a hilltop welding accident destroyed many homes and businesses.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force made the neighboring town of Pacific Beach
Pacific Beach, Washington
Pacific Beach is an unincorporated community in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, by the Pacific Ocean. There are many hotels there and a stretch of usable beach area is available to those who visit.-History:...
their home during World War II. The Navy still occupies property along the bluff in Pacific Beach - now a recreational use center for the military.
In 1960, a second wave of tourism began with the inception of Ocean Shores Estates. According to yearly polls by Evening Magazine, this resort town is consistently near the top of places to visit being number two behind Seattle.
Geography
Moclips is located at 47°13′11"N 124°12′17"W (47.219809, -124.204838).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 615 people, 273 households, and 146 families residing in the CDP. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 189.1 people per square mile (73.1/km²). There were 565 housing units at an average density of 173.7/sq mi (67.1/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 64.72% White, 0.16% African American, 24.72% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.49% Pacific Islander, 2.44% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 6.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.15% of the population.
There were 273 households out of which 17.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 31.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,500, and the median income for a family was $32,045. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the CDP was $17,411. About 8.1% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.