Ocean Shores, Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ocean Shores is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,836 at the 2000 census.
Contents |
[edit] History
The City of Ocean Shores had its beginnings before recorded history, when the area now known as the Point Brown peninsula was used by the various local tribes for trading and other purposes. The Chinook, Chehalis, and Quinalt Tribes used the area, as well as others that now make up the Quinalt Indian Nation.
On May 7, 1792 Captain Robert Gray sailed into the bay and named the area Bullfinch Harbor. Later, Captain George Vancouver re-named the area after Captain Gray, now called Gray's Harbor. The first white established settler on the Point was Matthew McGee, who settled in the early 1860s. He sold the southern portion of the peninsula to A.O. Damon in 1878 for a trading supply center whose dock extended into the Oyehut channel. A.O. Damon took over the entire peninsula from McGee with the land passed along to his grandson, Ralph Minard, who used the area as a cattle ranch from 1929 until he sold to the Ocean Shores Development Corporation in 1960 for $1,000,000.
At the time the Washington State legislature was considering legalizing some forms of gambling. In expectation of a huge casino development, the Ocean Shores Development Corporation opened their sale of lots in a travel trailer parked in the dunes. Soon the whole world knew about the California-style development of the place called Ocean Shores. The price of lots began at $595 and were sold sight unseen from the first plat maps. As the numbers of lots sold rose, the prices rose. Property lots were staked and numbered only as the road construction crews began to layout the massive road system. Even though the first roads were only 20 miles in length, the downtown area had mercury vapor lights to show that this was a booming city. In the first year 25 homes were constructed and their owners had charter membership certificates in the Ocean Shores Community Club.
As the development grew, the Ginny Simms Restaurant and Nightclub brought in the Hollywood set. In fact, on Grand Opening night chartered planes flew up a whole contingent of Hollywood star, and 11,000 people turned out at Bowerman Basin to see the celebrities.
By December, 1960, 25 miles of canals were planned, a six hole golf course was drawing players, and the mall shopping area was ready for the 1961 Ocean Shores Estates construction boom. The mall, l00 motel units, three restaurants and the airstrip sprang up from the sandy ground with the marina opening in 1963. The S.S. Catala was brought up from California to become a "boatel" and charter fleet office. Two years later a southwest winter storm drove her into the sand and for many years she was the most famous shipwreck on the Washington Coast. In 1966 the famous gates to the city were installed.
Pat Boone became a local resident in 1967 as a stockholder in the Ocean Shores Estates Incorporated and promotion of the development was speeded along by the famous Celebrity Golf tournaments hosted by Boone.
By 1969 Ocean Shores was declared the "Richest Little City" with an assessed evaluation of $35 million and 900 permanent residents. The following year the city was incorporated with a planning commission formed to zone the city and codify streets. The city's first school opened in 1971 and road paving on streets began in earnest.
During the 1980s, the town struggled through many setbacks brought on mainly by the state's economic recession. By the 1990s, the slump was over and construction of homes and businesses increased.
As of early 2007 lots range from 25k to hundreds of thousands for beachfront.
[edit] Geography
Ocean Shores is located at (46.971711, -124.154701)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.3 km² (12.1 mi²). 22.4 km² (8.6 mi²) of it is land and 8.9 km² (3.4 mi²) of it (28.50%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 3,836 people, 1,789 households, and 1,198 families residing in the city. The population density was 171.6/km² (444.7/mi²). There were 3,170 housing units at an average density of 141.8/km² (367.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.44% White, 0.60% African American, 2.19% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from other races, and 2.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.
There were 1,789 households out of which 17.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.55.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 31.7% from 45 to 64, and 28.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,643, and the median income for a family was $38,520. Males had a median income of $31,371 versus $25,393 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,192. About 9.8% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- City of Ocean Shores
- Oceanshores.com - online reservation source.
- Ocean Shores Community Club - established in 1960.
- 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
