We're now approaching the towns of Gearhart, and Seaside.
Gearhart, and Seaside. Oregon's first seaside resorts, dating back to the mid 1800s.
We will be travelling through Gearhart, and stopping in Seaside.
Gearhart got it's name in the 1850s from Philip Gearhart, on of the later arrivals to the Clatsop plains.
The true founding fathers of the area, however, were the Clatsop Indians. Theirs was the region along the Columbia River, down the Pacific Coast, and back toward the Coastal Range, as established millennia ago, by the Native American tribes. Besides the Clatsop Indians, the Native American tribes in the area included the Chinook, Tillimook, Coquille, Salish, Nez Perce, and Coos, as well as many other tribes along the Columbia River.
The later arriving white explorers to the area were from Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, and from other Eastern States in the US. Most arrived for hunting of animals for their pelts: such as beaver, sea otter, and mink. Others came for the hunting and fishing. Before the Louisiana purchase in the late 1700s, most of the visitors were sea explorers seeking to claim the territory for their native countries.
Before the turn of the 20th century, every coastal town that wanted to be a tourist destination focused on building attractive resorts, and Gearhart was no exception. The first hotel was built in 1890 and it stood just off the town’s main streets. A second, far grander Gearhart hotel was built in 1910. This handsome second hotel, commemorated on the post card, stood a mile from the first hotel and closer to the ocean.
Follow along with pictures.
Go to: tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of seaside
Once again, that's tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of seaside
See pictures.
See pictures. Gearhart by the Sea
Early Gearhart was a place where families and friends came to relax and spend the full summer. The homes were wide and welcoming, built for summer comfort, though few were winterized. From June to September mothers and children arrived and stayed for weeks at a time, while the men and fathers came back and forth on weekends. Most of the vacationers were from Portland, Salem, Olympia, Seattle and other large cities. This novel way of seasonal living kept pace with the faster and faster lives of the residents. For example, fathers from Portland could spent $5.00 and get a five-hour trip via boat to Astoria, and then catch the train headed south, which brought riders to the Gearhart Park Station. People called it the “Daddy Train.”
Next, is Seaside.
Seaside, with a beachfront stretching 3 miles, a real Tilt-A-Whirl, and the closest thing Oregon has to a boardwalk, you'll be nostalgic for the golden days.
It's the kite flying, sand castle making, boogie boarding, ancient forest hiking, grand promenade strolling, skee balling, kayaking, tandem biking, swan boating, sunset picnicking and bumper car-carring capital of the Oregon Coast!
And it's the standard issue getaway for Portland kids (& adults) forever.
But unlike Portland, Seaside hasn't changed over the decades. It's still full of shops selling kites, Roxy board shorts and trashy T-shirts. Where else can you ride a surrey while eating a caramel-apple, and proudly wearing neon-green sweatpants and sweatshirts that say, "Seaside".
As a beach resort, Seaside might be said to date to the winter of eighteen o five and eighteen o six, when explorers Lewis and Clark established a salt-making camp on the beach here, perhaps partly to escape the inland gloom of Fort Clatsop, where it rained almost daily. More on that in a moment.
82 years after Lewis & Clark..
In 1888, Portlanders essentially took a boat trip west down the Columbia River to Astoria, and then caught the train from Young’s Bay, and journeyed 15 miles south to Seaside.
Later, Seaside became known as the end of the railroad.
Essentially at this point in history, 1898, the trip to Seaside required the train ride to Astoria from Portland, then the crossing of Young’s Bay, and the final train journey from the south banks of the bay down into Seaside. At the time, the average speed of a passenger train was around 20 mph (which included switching, and stops, etc.). According to this speed, the trip from Portland to Astoria in 1898 would take an estimated 5 hours – with the second leg from Astoria to Seaside taking at least an additional hour. Six hours seems pretty modest for a journey to the beach in 1898. It’s no wonder that the path to Seaside became the popular corridor it is today.
Later, in the 1920s Portland families would board at 6:30am, bring breakfast to eat on the train, pile out for a few hours on the beach, and return in the evening—all for a 25-cent fare.
It's first hotel was Ben Holladay's, Seaside House. Now home to the Seaside Golf Course, this venerated property was once the location of a luxurious Italian Villa style hotel built by the renowned railroad tycoon, Ben Holladay. The villa was built in 1871 to attract and entertain the booming inland elite.
The property soon became a popular haven for the upper-classes, replete with a race track and premium stable facilities. Widely advertised along the west coast, the Seaside House become famous for its plush elegance amidst the dramatic and untamed nature of the Oregon Coast. Tradition states that the city was named after Holladay’s Seaside House.
See pictures.
See pictures. Seaside House.
Today tourists crowd the strip of arcades, fast-food joints, and gift shops lining Broadway. Away from the neon lights however, Seaside’s old-fashioned charm and picturesque natural setting have survived. The walking loop visits the best of old Seaside: the beachfront Promenade, the Necanicum River estuary, and the cottage-lined back streets.
Dooger's & Buoy's Best
Maybe our 1st stop, fuel up for the rest of the day at Doogers Seafood & Grill, where you will find steamer clams, scallops, crab cakes, fresh halibut and of course, clam chowder.
A visit to the Oregon coast just isn't complete without a steaming hot bowl of clam chowder... And don't forget to grab a Dooger's Chowder Kit on the way out.
OR Fuel up for the day at Bell Buoy, more like a snack bar than a restaurant.
See pictures.
Follow along with pictures...
Then, go to Bell Buoy and menu.
I'll pause for a moment while you get there...
pause
pause
...
OK.
Seaside may not be a port town, but it knows some fishermen. Buoy's Best Restaurant (eighteen hundred South Roosevelt Drive), has the finest, freshest seafood in town, straight from the Bell Buoy Fish Market next door. One of the only places approved to clean and sell razor clams. Cut out the middleman and get the clam chowder, which made a respectable showing last year. It's rich & buttery thanks to an overnight marinade. Also be sure to grab, oyster shooters ($3) and breaded cod with waffle fries ($10).
(SEE ALL EATS)
...
Next, is the historic Gilbert District and Boardwalk
We will, turn right from 101 and for the next 2 blocks, is Seaside’s beautifully restored Gilbert District, peppered with historic architecture from days of old – including two of the city’s oldest buildings framing the intersection at Broadway and Holladay Drive. Stroll with us down Broadway and hear the classic Gilbert District tales from the distant past HERE.
Then, we'll relive our childhood and amuse ourselves with 'Blasts from the Past' from the 1930s--
With...
The Funland Arcade, one of the country's last remaining Fascination parlors, where players roll rubber balls across a bingo-style game table, and attendants walk the aisles collecting money and handing out prize coupons, while the announcer calls games over a microphone.
Then, at the Seaside Carousel Mall, we'll buy that CHEESY NEON green Seaside hoodie.
You can't leave Seaside without it! (or at The Freedom Shop (111 Broadway).
Or for $3, ride on the vintage Lusse Auto Scooter bumper cars (like the 1953 model styled after the curvy, chromed-out Chevy's of its era).
And an original Tilt-A-Whirl, all over 70 years old...
Then head next door to Pronto Pup for a made-to-order corn dog.
And last, it's not a cheesy beach trip until you've wandered into The Seaside Candyman (21 North Columbia St.). Here you can spin a giant wheel to win free taffy and popcorn. Here it's like a tiny beach-town take on Willy Wonka.
...
pause
pause
pause
pause
Next, is the Turn around, Promenade & Lewis & Clark
At the Promenade, the "end of the trail" statue of Lewis and Clark greets you. The Promenade was built in 1921, and the town hosted a huge celebration to honor the occasion.
See pictures. Seaside turnaround, and postcard from 1911.
See pictures. Seaside turnaround, and postcard from 1911.
In the next pictures.
The Promenade and beach, looks pretty much the same as it did, 100 years ago.
To the south, you will see Tillamook Head, the prominent headland. Just on the other side of this headland is Cannon Beach.
See pictures, view from the crow's nest Towers, Just What the Doctor Ordered, and Going for a Dip in the 1920s.
See pictures, view from the crow's nest Towers, Just What the Doctor Ordered, and Going for a Dip in the 1920s.
And don't forget to take a dip in the ocean, it may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
You choose, be a brave soul, wade out and enjoy confronting the waves in a head-on collision, feeling of the full majestic power of the ocean.
Or, like more modest folk, venture in the ankle deep waters, where the shallow tide flows back against your feet, gently pulling sand around your exposed toes. One can clearly see that both temperaments are represented here in the late 1920s – and if you head down to Seaside’s beach during high summer this year, I’ll bet you can see the same oceanfront antics.
By the time the expedition makes it to Fort Clatsop, 15 miles north of here, their salt cache is gone.
The captains sent five men to establish the salt camp here.
Join me for a visit to a reproduction of their salt-making camp, and close to the end of their trail.
The Salt Works reconstruction is a 12 minute walk south.
A block from the beach, the reconstructed salt oven shows, how a small party from the Corps, boiled saltwater for salt. Interpretive signs are there.
To make salt from sea water, the men built a stone oven, lit roaring hot fires, then boiled huge kettles of sea water day and night. When the water boiled away, the result was white sea salt, which was packed into wooden kegs.
See pictures.
Salt Making Camp
See pictures.
Salt Making Camp
They chose Seaside because the seawater had a high salt content, and the animals and wood were abundant. Captain Clark pronounced the salt "excellent white and fine."
They used the briny bounty, to cure elk and other wild game, for charcuterie, to nibble alongside wild onions, licorice root and berries they traded with local tribes, during their journey home.
salt-making camp.
Salt Works
Also, from here, you can view Tillamook Headland, to the South. Tillamook Head is the furthest the Lewis & Clark party went. More on that shortly.
Walk 'the prom', and Feed the seals.
Seaside is known for it's aquarium, the Seaside Aquarium at the Promenade, just to our North, 1 block. Formerly, it was known as the Seaside Natatorium.
It's provided a place of attraction for over 80 years, one of the oldest aquariums on the west coast (1937- History)
The building was once, one of the 2 Seaside Natatoriums, a salt water bath house and swimming pool.
See pictures.
Seaside natatorium and aquarium
See pictures.
Seaside natatorium and aquarium
It's maybe the best $8 you can spend on the coast. Pay the extra $2, to throw fish at the seals and see many of the sea-creatures who've made their homes there.. Also check out the open fish tanks where you can touch sea anemones and starfish.
Finally, you can visit the Seaside Museum, & Butterfield Cottage, with history going back 2000 years, at 570 Necanicum Drive.
To visit may require a deletion of other parts of your tour, or an extension.
The Butterfield, is Oregon's one and only, historical, beach cottage museum. They're open Monday through Saturday 10 to 3. Admission, $3 each. Listen, HERE, for more museum and historic beach cottage info.
Gearhart, and Seaside. Oregon's first seaside resorts, dating back to the mid 1800s.
We will be travelling through Gearhart, and stopping in Seaside.
Gearhart got it's name in the 1850s from Philip Gearhart, on of the later arrivals to the Clatsop plains.
The true founding fathers of the area, however, were the Clatsop Indians. Theirs was the region along the Columbia River, down the Pacific Coast, and back toward the Coastal Range, as established millennia ago, by the Native American tribes. Besides the Clatsop Indians, the Native American tribes in the area included the Chinook, Tillimook, Coquille, Salish, Nez Perce, and Coos, as well as many other tribes along the Columbia River.
The later arriving white explorers to the area were from Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, and from other Eastern States in the US. Most arrived for hunting of animals for their pelts: such as beaver, sea otter, and mink. Others came for the hunting and fishing. Before the Louisiana purchase in the late 1700s, most of the visitors were sea explorers seeking to claim the territory for their native countries.
Before the turn of the 20th century, every coastal town that wanted to be a tourist destination focused on building attractive resorts, and Gearhart was no exception. The first hotel was built in 1890 and it stood just off the town’s main streets. A second, far grander Gearhart hotel was built in 1910. This handsome second hotel, commemorated on the post card, stood a mile from the first hotel and closer to the ocean.
Follow along with pictures.
Go to: tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of seaside
Once again, that's tour portland dot com, forward slash, pictures of seaside
See pictures.
See pictures. Gearhart by the Sea
Early Gearhart was a place where families and friends came to relax and spend the full summer. The homes were wide and welcoming, built for summer comfort, though few were winterized. From June to September mothers and children arrived and stayed for weeks at a time, while the men and fathers came back and forth on weekends. Most of the vacationers were from Portland, Salem, Olympia, Seattle and other large cities. This novel way of seasonal living kept pace with the faster and faster lives of the residents. For example, fathers from Portland could spent $5.00 and get a five-hour trip via boat to Astoria, and then catch the train headed south, which brought riders to the Gearhart Park Station. People called it the “Daddy Train.”
Next, is Seaside.
Seaside, with a beachfront stretching 3 miles, a real Tilt-A-Whirl, and the closest thing Oregon has to a boardwalk, you'll be nostalgic for the golden days.
It's the kite flying, sand castle making, boogie boarding, ancient forest hiking, grand promenade strolling, skee balling, kayaking, tandem biking, swan boating, sunset picnicking and bumper car-carring capital of the Oregon Coast!
And it's the standard issue getaway for Portland kids (& adults) forever.
But unlike Portland, Seaside hasn't changed over the decades. It's still full of shops selling kites, Roxy board shorts and trashy T-shirts. Where else can you ride a surrey while eating a caramel-apple, and proudly wearing neon-green sweatpants and sweatshirts that say, "Seaside".
As a beach resort, Seaside might be said to date to the winter of eighteen o five and eighteen o six, when explorers Lewis and Clark established a salt-making camp on the beach here, perhaps partly to escape the inland gloom of Fort Clatsop, where it rained almost daily. More on that in a moment.
82 years after Lewis & Clark..
In 1888, Portlanders essentially took a boat trip west down the Columbia River to Astoria, and then caught the train from Young’s Bay, and journeyed 15 miles south to Seaside.
Later, Seaside became known as the end of the railroad.
Essentially at this point in history, 1898, the trip to Seaside required the train ride to Astoria from Portland, then the crossing of Young’s Bay, and the final train journey from the south banks of the bay down into Seaside. At the time, the average speed of a passenger train was around 20 mph (which included switching, and stops, etc.). According to this speed, the trip from Portland to Astoria in 1898 would take an estimated 5 hours – with the second leg from Astoria to Seaside taking at least an additional hour. Six hours seems pretty modest for a journey to the beach in 1898. It’s no wonder that the path to Seaside became the popular corridor it is today.
Later, in the 1920s Portland families would board at 6:30am, bring breakfast to eat on the train, pile out for a few hours on the beach, and return in the evening—all for a 25-cent fare.
It's first hotel was Ben Holladay's, Seaside House. Now home to the Seaside Golf Course, this venerated property was once the location of a luxurious Italian Villa style hotel built by the renowned railroad tycoon, Ben Holladay. The villa was built in 1871 to attract and entertain the booming inland elite.
The property soon became a popular haven for the upper-classes, replete with a race track and premium stable facilities. Widely advertised along the west coast, the Seaside House become famous for its plush elegance amidst the dramatic and untamed nature of the Oregon Coast. Tradition states that the city was named after Holladay’s Seaside House.
See pictures.
See pictures. Seaside House.
Today tourists crowd the strip of arcades, fast-food joints, and gift shops lining Broadway. Away from the neon lights however, Seaside’s old-fashioned charm and picturesque natural setting have survived. The walking loop visits the best of old Seaside: the beachfront Promenade, the Necanicum River estuary, and the cottage-lined back streets.
Dooger's & Buoy's Best
Maybe our 1st stop, fuel up for the rest of the day at Doogers Seafood & Grill, where you will find steamer clams, scallops, crab cakes, fresh halibut and of course, clam chowder.
A visit to the Oregon coast just isn't complete without a steaming hot bowl of clam chowder... And don't forget to grab a Dooger's Chowder Kit on the way out.
OR Fuel up for the day at Bell Buoy, more like a snack bar than a restaurant.
See pictures.
Follow along with pictures...
Then, go to Bell Buoy and menu.
I'll pause for a moment while you get there...
pause
pause
...
OK.
Seaside may not be a port town, but it knows some fishermen. Buoy's Best Restaurant (eighteen hundred South Roosevelt Drive), has the finest, freshest seafood in town, straight from the Bell Buoy Fish Market next door. One of the only places approved to clean and sell razor clams. Cut out the middleman and get the clam chowder, which made a respectable showing last year. It's rich & buttery thanks to an overnight marinade. Also be sure to grab, oyster shooters ($3) and breaded cod with waffle fries ($10).
(SEE ALL EATS)
...
Next, is the historic Gilbert District and Boardwalk
We will, turn right from 101 and for the next 2 blocks, is Seaside’s beautifully restored Gilbert District, peppered with historic architecture from days of old – including two of the city’s oldest buildings framing the intersection at Broadway and Holladay Drive. Stroll with us down Broadway and hear the classic Gilbert District tales from the distant past HERE.
Then, we'll relive our childhood and amuse ourselves with 'Blasts from the Past' from the 1930s--
With...
The Funland Arcade, one of the country's last remaining Fascination parlors, where players roll rubber balls across a bingo-style game table, and attendants walk the aisles collecting money and handing out prize coupons, while the announcer calls games over a microphone.
Then, at the Seaside Carousel Mall, we'll buy that CHEESY NEON green Seaside hoodie.
You can't leave Seaside without it! (or at The Freedom Shop (111 Broadway).
Or for $3, ride on the vintage Lusse Auto Scooter bumper cars (like the 1953 model styled after the curvy, chromed-out Chevy's of its era).
And an original Tilt-A-Whirl, all over 70 years old...
Then head next door to Pronto Pup for a made-to-order corn dog.
And last, it's not a cheesy beach trip until you've wandered into The Seaside Candyman (21 North Columbia St.). Here you can spin a giant wheel to win free taffy and popcorn. Here it's like a tiny beach-town take on Willy Wonka.
...
pause
pause
pause
pause
Next, is the Turn around, Promenade & Lewis & Clark
At the Promenade, the "end of the trail" statue of Lewis and Clark greets you. The Promenade was built in 1921, and the town hosted a huge celebration to honor the occasion.
See pictures. Seaside turnaround, and postcard from 1911.
See pictures. Seaside turnaround, and postcard from 1911.
In the next pictures.
The Promenade and beach, looks pretty much the same as it did, 100 years ago.
To the south, you will see Tillamook Head, the prominent headland. Just on the other side of this headland is Cannon Beach.
See pictures, view from the crow's nest Towers, Just What the Doctor Ordered, and Going for a Dip in the 1920s.
See pictures, view from the crow's nest Towers, Just What the Doctor Ordered, and Going for a Dip in the 1920s.
And don't forget to take a dip in the ocean, it may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
You choose, be a brave soul, wade out and enjoy confronting the waves in a head-on collision, feeling of the full majestic power of the ocean.
Or, like more modest folk, venture in the ankle deep waters, where the shallow tide flows back against your feet, gently pulling sand around your exposed toes. One can clearly see that both temperaments are represented here in the late 1920s – and if you head down to Seaside’s beach during high summer this year, I’ll bet you can see the same oceanfront antics.
By the time the expedition makes it to Fort Clatsop, 15 miles north of here, their salt cache is gone.
The captains sent five men to establish the salt camp here.
Join me for a visit to a reproduction of their salt-making camp, and close to the end of their trail.
The Salt Works reconstruction is a 12 minute walk south.
A block from the beach, the reconstructed salt oven shows, how a small party from the Corps, boiled saltwater for salt. Interpretive signs are there.
To make salt from sea water, the men built a stone oven, lit roaring hot fires, then boiled huge kettles of sea water day and night. When the water boiled away, the result was white sea salt, which was packed into wooden kegs.
See pictures.
Salt Making Camp
See pictures.
Salt Making Camp
They chose Seaside because the seawater had a high salt content, and the animals and wood were abundant. Captain Clark pronounced the salt "excellent white and fine."
They used the briny bounty, to cure elk and other wild game, for charcuterie, to nibble alongside wild onions, licorice root and berries they traded with local tribes, during their journey home.
salt-making camp.
Salt Works
Also, from here, you can view Tillamook Headland, to the South. Tillamook Head is the furthest the Lewis & Clark party went. More on that shortly.
Walk 'the prom', and Feed the seals.
Seaside is known for it's aquarium, the Seaside Aquarium at the Promenade, just to our North, 1 block. Formerly, it was known as the Seaside Natatorium.
It's provided a place of attraction for over 80 years, one of the oldest aquariums on the west coast (1937- History)
The building was once, one of the 2 Seaside Natatoriums, a salt water bath house and swimming pool.
See pictures.
Seaside natatorium and aquarium
See pictures.
Seaside natatorium and aquarium
It's maybe the best $8 you can spend on the coast. Pay the extra $2, to throw fish at the seals and see many of the sea-creatures who've made their homes there.. Also check out the open fish tanks where you can touch sea anemones and starfish.
Finally, you can visit the Seaside Museum, & Butterfield Cottage, with history going back 2000 years, at 570 Necanicum Drive.
To visit may require a deletion of other parts of your tour, or an extension.
The Butterfield, is Oregon's one and only, historical, beach cottage museum. They're open Monday through Saturday 10 to 3. Admission, $3 each. Listen, HERE, for more museum and historic beach cottage info.
