Clallam Bay - Sekiu Chamber of Commerce

Website Links

Description

East Clallam (renamed Clallam Bay officially in 1920) was a mill town when it was founded in 1890. During the boom that followed, the Clallam Bay Record, the local newspaper, was established. Two years later, the mill burned down. Following the fire, the main industry became the barrels for the tanning extract. When the extract became useless due to the development of a newer tanning process, both towns were devastated. The community recovered gradually through the advent of commercial and sport fishing and logging. In 1892, East Clallam was the starting point for the first road from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Forks prairie. D.A. Robertson started a logging operation in this area in 1902. He built several miles of railroad and what was at the time the longest railroad bridge in the world. The 808 foot long, 202 foot high bridge, over which logs were skidded on grease, spanned Charlie Creek. Clallam Bay was a regular stop for the Mosquito Fleet, a group of passenger and freight steamers plying the coast. The lighthouse at Slip Point was lighted on April Fool's Day in 1905. The steamer Alice Gertrude, built in 1898 in Tacoma, sank off the shores of East Clallam in a winter blizzard in January of 1907. For a short time, there was a coal mine half way between Clallam Bay and Pysht. It lasted four or five years, but did not produce a successful quality or quantity of coal and was closed...

Fact sheet

Products & services

Similar companies nearby