Aberdeen, Washington
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Aberdeen (IPA: [ˈæ bɚ diːn]) is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. Aberdeen was founded by early settler Samuel Benn when he had a plat filed in 1884. The population was 16,461 at the 2000 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is sometimes called the "Gateway to the Olympic Peninsula" or the "Birthplace of Grunge," because of the founders of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, coming from the city. Other notable musicians from Aberdeen include Dale Crover of The Melvins, and Chris Freeman of Pansy Division.
Aberdeen is the homeport of the tall ship Lady Washington, a reproduction of a smaller vessel used by the explorer Captain Robert Gray, which is featured in the two Pirates of the Caribbean movies (The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and Dead Man's Chest (2006).
On May 9, 2006 Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes came to Aberdeen for a contest involving a special screening of Mission Impossible 3.
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[edit] History
The early settlers who came to the eastern edge of Grays Harbor in the 1880s called the place Wishkah, after the nearby river. But some objected, and the city was eventually renamed for a local salmon cannery, itself a namesake of the original Aberdeen, Scotland, which is situated at the mouth of two rivers. The neighboring settlement of Wishkah had its plat filed in 1883.
Although it has become the largest and best known of the three cities on Grays Harbor, Aberdeen lagged behind neighbors Hoquiam and Cosmopolis in the early years. When A.J. West built the town's first sawmill in 1884, the other two municipalities had already been in business for several years. For years Aberdeen and neighboring towns vied to be the terminous for Northern Pacific Railroad, but instead of ending at one of the established mill towns, the railroad skimmed through Cosmopolis and headed west for Ocosta, a little town on the South Shore.
So Hoquiam and Aberdeen citizens banded together to build a spur, and in 1895 this homegrown line connected the Northern Pacific tracks to Aberdeen, and four years later it reached Hoquiam.
By 1900, Aberdeen was one of the roughest towns on the West Coast, with many saloons, whorehouses, and gambling establishments. Aberdeen was well known by sailors. It was nicknamed "The Hellhole of the Pacific", or "The Port of Missing Men", because of the high murder rate around the area. One such person was Billy Gohl, known locally as Billy "Ghoul", who was rumored to have killed at least 140 men.
Aberdeen was officially incorporated on May 12, 1890. On October 16, 1903, a massive fire swept through the city's commercial district, destroying 140 buildings and killing four people. The number of people living there grew tremendously in forty years, going from 1,638 in 1890 to 26,073 in 1930. Many immigrants moved in from all over the world, particularly people from Scandanavia, and many other European countries.
During the depression Aberdeen was hit hard, reducing the number of major mills from 37 to a mere 9. During this time, mill owners hired many Filipino and Jewish immigrants. During World War 2 the town was booming, but it began to decline as the big trees were gone. In 1959, the police force raided out all the many whorehouses that once filled the town.
By the 1970s and 80's, most of the mills were closing down and the fishing runs were not like they used to be. It seemed the town was heading into a bad direction. But hope came in 1978 when the Satsop Nuclear Plant was being built, creating thousands of jobs throughout the county.
However, in 1982 while a recession was happening it closed down, doubling the unemployment rate. When it appeared that things couldn't get any worse, the Spotted Owl was listed on the Endangered Species list, closing many more forests to logging. Very recently the local sawmill, as well as the pulp mill in the neighboring city of Cosmopolis, shut down, costing the local community 342 jobs. Currently, there are plans for a new biodiesel plant and renewed hope that the industry will save the city.
[edit] Education
The city's school district includes two high schools, J. M. Weatherwax High School, or Aberdeen High School as it’s called by most and Harbor High School, an alternative high school with an enrollment exceeding 200 students. Aberdeen High School has a rich history that is a point of pride for many in the community. Some of its traditions include the longest high school sports rivalry west of the Mississippi River, with its neighbor Hoquiam High School. The rivalry is known amongst all the townsfolk and every year when this game occurs you can be assured most of the population is in attendance. The 100th football game was played on September 17, 2005, with thousands of community members in attendance.
In 2002, the Weatherwax building of Aberdeen High School, one of Aberdeen's most historical buildings (built in 1909), was burned to the ground by two of its own students just after midnight. Students have since been spread out over the remaining campus, even using remains of an old church for classroom space until the new school is built. Construction of the new building has begun and should be ready to open September 2007.
Other schools in the district include Harbor High School, an alternative high school, Miller Junior High, Central Park Elementary, McDermoth Elementary, Stevens Elementary, AJ West Elementary, Robert Gray Elementary, and St. Mary's Catholic School.
Aberdeen is also home to Grays Harbor College.GHC is home to Charlie Choker; the mascot.GHC has had two previous locations and is currently in South Aberdeen. A whole new section has been added to replace the old classrooms. GHC has many good opertunities and uses many resources to help students. GHC also has a program that works with another college online to help get students their 4 year teaching degree.
[edit] Famous people
For a town of its size, Aberdeen has produced a surprising number of well-known people. Famous Aberdonians include painter Robert Motherwell, Nobel-winning physicist Douglas Osheroff, photographer Lee Friedlander, choreographer Trisha Brown, artist Elton Bennett, former Detroit Lions and St. Louis Cardinals Defensive End Mike Melinkovich, former Denver Broncos quarterback, John Elway, former Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans tight-end Mark Bruener, pollster Jack Elway (father of John Elway, the football hero), novelist Robert Cantwell, professional wrestler "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, software engineer Peter Norton and Jeff Burlingame, author of Kurt Cobain: Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind. Victor Grinich, who was born in Aberdeen in 1924 was a pioneer in the semiconductor industry and a member of the Traitorous Eight that founded Silicon Valley.
[edit] Rock musicians
Aberdeen is best known, however, for producing seminal grunge and punk rock bands and musicians such as Nirvana including Kurt Cobain (born in Aberdeen at Grays Harbor Community Hospital), and Dale Crover, of The Melvins. The other early Melvins also had some kind of connection with Aberdeen or nearby Montesano. When Dillard left the band in 1984 Dale Crover joined and the band's rehearsals moved to a back room of Crover's parents house in Aberdeen, Washington. Likewise, many of the earliest Nirvana rehearsals were held in Aberdeen, and some of Cobain's lyrics, in songs such as "Something in the Way" and some of the Bleach album referred to locations within the town. Although grunge was sometimes referred to as the "Seattle Sound", it has been argued that because Nirvana did not come from the city itself, that they had a slight outsider status within the scene, which was actually beneficial.
Krist Novoselic was born in Compton, California, but moved to Aberdeen in his youth, where he met Cobain.
Kurdt Vanderhoof of heavy metal-band Metal Church is also from Aberdeen.
[edit] Other famous residents
- Robert Arthur, radio presenter
- Violet Blue, porn star
- Colin Cowherd, radio presenter
- Helena Shipman, actress
- Clarence E. Vammen, Jr., aviator
- Daniel A. Stanard, Genius
- Mark Bruener, pro football player, currently playing for the Houston Texans
[edit] Industry
Despite attempts to diversify the local economy that stretch back decades, Aberdeen and the rest of Grays Harbor remain dependent on the timber industry.
On October 21, 2005, Weyerhaeuser announced that on December 19 it would close the Aberdeen large-log sawmill and in early 2006 the Cosmopolis pulp mill. This was expected to result in the loss of at least 342 jobs. Many employees were not told by Weyerhaueser management, but learned about the closures from local radio stations, who had received a press release early in the morning prior to a scheduled press conference.
Top employers on the Harbor include locally owned Grays Harbor Paper L.P., The Westport Shipyard, Sierra Pacific, The Simpson Door Co., Hoquiam Plywood, the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, a state prison which opened in 2000, and Safe Harbor Technology, a technical support center.
Other major employers include cranberry-growing collective Ocean Spray, Wal-Mart and Washington Crab Products.
Imperium Renewables of Seattle has begun construction on a $40 million dollar biodiesel plant at the Port of Grays Harbor in the Aberdeen area. It is estimated the plant will produce as much as 100 million gallons of diesel fuel made from plants and vegetable material annually. This is a vast increase in the state's production, and a boost to the Grays Harbor economy. When completed it will be one of the largest plants of its type in the United States.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 16,461 people, 6,517 households, and 4,112 families residing in the city. The population density was 597.9/km² (1,548.8/mi²). There were 7,536 housing units at an average density of 273.7/km² (709.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.87% White, 0.47% African American, 3.70% Native American, 2.10% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 5.15% from other races, and 3.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.22% of the population.
There were 6,517 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,683, and the median income for a family was $37,966. Males had a median income of $32,710 versus $20,446 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,092. About 16.1% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.7% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.
There has been a growing number of hispanics in Aberdeen due to manual labor and afforadble housing. F Street is a street where most hispanics and other races live, and expanding into the surrounding neighborhood.
[edit] Sister Cities
Aberdeen has the following sister cities, according to Washington State Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen's website.[1]:
[edit] References
- Ed Van Syckle, "The River Pioneers," Pacific Search Press, 1982.
- Ed Van Syckle, "They Tried to Cut It All," Pacific Search Press, 1980.
- Murray Morgan, "The Last Wilderness," Viking Press, 1955.
- Anne Cotton, "The History of Aberdeen," Grays Harbor Regional Planning Commission, 1982.
- John C. Hughes & Ryan Teague Beckwith, "On the Harbor: From Black Friday to Nirvana," Stephens Press, LLC. 2005.
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
