Brief History of Ocean Shores

Located on the northwest side of Grays Harbor, Ocean Shores is a six thousand acre peninsula stretching six miles long and two miles wide. It’s first inhabitants were native tribes of the Washington Pacific Coast alongside tribes occupying neighboring Chehalis valley who used this area seasonally for food gathering, trading, and socializing. In May 1792, Captain Robert Gray, a Boston trader anchored his ship the Columbia in our harbor where the “lone tree,” a spruce, stood sentinel as a landmark for more than a century.

Matthew McGee, the first non-native to permanently reside on the peninsula settled here around 1860 and was followed by A.O. Damon who settled near present day North Beach High School, in 1861. Damon acquired the southern peninsula from McGee in 1879, making Damon the sole owner of the peninsula now known as Ocean Shores.

Damon built a pier near the southern tip and later built another on the bay side, near Oyhut at the northern end of the peninsula. There, supplies and mail were delivered by boat from Hoquiam and delivered on land north to settlements including Taholah and Quinault.

The north jetty was constructed between 1903-1916 and rebuilt several times; 1941-1945, in the 1970’s and again in 2000. Although no remains exist, During WWII both the Coast Guard and Army had facilities on the southern end of the peninsula, near the Coastal Interpretive Center.

In 1929, Damon’s grandson Ralph Minard and his wife Ruth took over the land using it to raise cattle for sale. Six thousand acres of the ranch operated by the Minard family was sold to a group of Seattle developers for a million dollars in 1960 and quickly turned into a resort town.

With high hopes of Ocean Shores becoming a premier destination for California elite, by the end of 1960, planning and development of the new community of Ocean Shores was underway. With surveys and plat maps complete, residential lot sales began and simultaneously Duck and Minard lakes and the 23-mile freshwater canal system were dredged into existence.

In 1961 construction of the Weatherly Inn, Ocean Shores first hotel, began and it still stands today, behind Sharky’s at the intersection of Chance A La Mer and Ocean Shores Blvd. The marina, a heyday highlight and original home of the famous shipwrecked boatel, SS Catala followed in 1963 as did an airport, shopping, and the PGA golf course. Eventually, in 1970, residents voted to incorporate Ocean Shores as a city; a decision made official on November 18, 1970.