The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco announces the opening of a new special exhibit, “The Auto Era: Cars Come to the Beach.” The show will run August 9th to October 19th, 2024. An opening reception will be held August 9th, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the museum.
By the mid-1920s the railroad era and the grand hotels of the North Beach Peninsula were on the wane. The era of the automobile had begun. Highways were built from Olympia and Chehalis to South Bend and beyond to the beaches of our community bringing auto tourists from the Seattle area. Portland auto tourists arrived from across the river. In 1920, Captain Fritz Elfving of Astoria began to carry both people and autos from the dock at McGowan to Astoria and back with his tug and a barge. By 1921, he put into service a ferry called the “Tourist” and in 1924, he had purchased and added a second, larger ferry, the Tourist No. 2.
The Auto Era had arrived! This exhibition will explore the impact of auto tourism on the North Beach Peninsula. From auto races on the beach to the rise of the motel industry, the automobile has changed how the community grew and the kind of business that thrived from then to now.
Early automobile travel enthusiasts were middle-class city residents wealthy enough to own cars. Across the country it had become wildly popular to leave the city for vacation and shun hotels in favor of camping in the open countryside.
An article in the Oregon Daily Journal (May 29, 1921) describes the first auto camps.
“To prepare for the expected auto tourists the North Beach community have established five free auto camps, located at Chinook, Ilwaco, Seaview, Long Beach and Ocean Park. There are three active tourist associations in operation on North Beach, the Ocean Beach Tourist association of Seaview and similar associations at Long Beach and Ocean Park. With Mrs. Lyniff of Long Beach I visited the newly opened auto tourist camp. The citizens have cleared five acres in a grove near the railroad track within sight and sound of the sea, have fenced it, equipped it with tables, and benches and have constructed five ovens of brick with steel plates for cooking and have put water pipes though the grounds and erected comfort stations and provided plenty of free wood.”
Long a popular tourist destination, the North Beach Peninsula had to adapt to the arrival of the automobile. Auto courts, motels, drive-in restaurants, and more came on the heels of this transformation and have helped form what is popularly called the Long Beach Peninsula that we know today.
Admission to the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum is free thanks to the Port of Ilwaco and members of the Rising Tide Membership Level. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm.