Wow! Interesting to find out I was born, in 1953, in the "Hellhole Of The Pacific"! I have heard the town called the sand flea capital of the world, and the one town that can induce, at first sight, clinical depression. I know my mother hated it there. Not long after I was born, we moved to Bremerton. My mom said she wanted her kids to be somewhere we could actually experience sunlight, so we moved, after a few years, to Yakima. And, a few years after that, to Walla Walla, where I grew up. THANK YOU for this fascinating history about good old Aberdeen....makes me smile to know I was born in a town with such a..well, fascinating history! Maybe it had something to do with my weird sense of humor and my other eccentricities. Don't know...but it's fun to think about! It must have been something in the air! Anyway, many thanks for this video about the town of my birth...I want to learn more! Looking forward to finding out what was going on there the year I came along. You've got me hooked! Many thanks! 😊
There is a certain mystique to Aberdeen / Hoquiam and Grays Harbor in general but these days it's a lot safer. Highly interesting if you are looking for a good place to vacation.
Aberdeen is only place i have been to in the world that feels like the end of the world. That town just has such a negative energy to it, you can feel all of the trauma.
We visited this area about 20 years ago. My youngest celebrated his second birthday having a free birthday cinnamon roll at the lodge. We really enjoyed our visit to the Olympic Peninsula. We played in the lake at the lodge and wondered why folks were giving us funny looks. Come to find out, they think the lakes too cold to swim in in late September. The lakes temperature was in the 60s according to the store clerk. We had to laugh when she explained. We lived in north idaho at the time and the water is colder in n. Idaho year round than lake Quinault is
@Travel adventures HR. Terrible audio and background music! And narration! Just some constructive criticism but the narration is terrible, no emotion or feeling at all. It’s like you’re reading off of a menu or newspaper ad or something
Thank you for the constructive criticism, it really does help me. And I was worried about my narration. I will work on getting better. Was there anything you liked ?
We lived in Wishah Valley for years. What do you know about Fosjak? He was a hermit that lived on Wiskah Rd near the East Hoquiam cutoff. We would see him once a week or so walk up to the country store. Rumor had it that he cared for a brother in tha old house.
Its Kurt not Curt. Seen Kurt Cobain's name underneath a river bridge where he hung out. Kurt committed sucide by gun. Sam Benn Parks on top the hill behind Aberdeen & the high school. Sam Benn's son still fishes for salmon.
I grew up and went to school in Aberdeen. It wasn’t until 1962 when I moved to Kent that I realized that not all small towns had blocks and blocks of taverns with whorehouses operating above. An Interesting story you could research would be when Nick Yantzen, of the Aberdeen Police Department (a captain I believe) teamed up with some local ministers and raided the houses. The police were getting kickbacks, of course, so they “promoted” Nick to vice patrol, took away his car and gun as set him out to patrol the streets. It was about 1957 or 58 and I was 18, working in an office in town and he used to come in and talk to my bosses.
It seems very likely that Billy Gohl, as an influential union organizer, was framed by the powers that be of his day. The 1910s and 1920s era was one of worker militancy met by heavy-handed strike-breaking tactics by law enforcement and the establishment in Grays Harbor. Read the books "Ghoul of Grays Harbor" and "The Red Coast" for more on that (both books by Aaron Goings, who was brought up in Aberdeen).
Framing Grohl accomplished two things for the bosses; (1) got rid of Grohl; and (2) provided cover for just how deadly the average job was at the time. The young men likely weren’t being murdered, they were just getting killed by the extremely unsafe working conditions.
Two memories of Aberdeen... in the 70's we would go through Aberdeen to the Pacific beaches to dig for razor clams. Returning cold and filthy we always stopped at the old Crystal Steam Baths for a hot steam and many tall Buds. On another trip I stopped at an old pawn shop in the early 80's and found a stunning 1979 Guild F212XL NT Jumbo 12 string guitar (mahogany B&S) that had incredible power and chime. I still have it and play it often. Sounds fantastic. Aberdeen is just a sad shell of what it once was. Sun never seems to shine when I (now rarely) drive through the area.
I have lived in the PNW all my life. I was born & raised in Coos Bay, Oregon. which appears to have been much the same economic base as Aberdeen. I have since move on, but I did make a trip to Aberdeen earlier last week to pick up my new, beloved Boxer puppy. The short trek from Olympia was nothing short of stunning. A beautiful drive and lovely. I also noted that Aberdeen was once a prosperous and bustling city. Lovely old hotels, store fronts, and city streets. Much like Coos Bay in years past. My short visit in Aberdeen at a down town motor loge was scary to say the least, but I would do it all over again. Towns like Aberdeen & Coos Bay deserve a shot. All we need is money!
Just randomly drove through Aberdeen today. Just moved to Tacoma bout 2 months ago and wanted to see the pacific ocean, this was along the way. Pretty city, easily identifiable as some place with historic roots. I didn’t know about Cobain being from there until later this same evening. Driving through i kept telling my wife i felt as if i was in an Alaskan fishing village.
Thank you for commenting. It’s nice to hear that you loved the video. I would love to say more about Kurt , but I have to be so careful because there are copy right problems that I could get in trouble with.
So did bodies stop washing up when he was sent to prison? Because that speaks volumes and kind of trashes the narrative those were all accidental deaths from dangerous working conditions.
Accidents still happened, but because of the sailers union making it safer for the workers. They were far less. Thank you for your question, I love to it when people respond to one of my videos. And if you have time please subscribe to my page 😀
This was fun to watch! I have been to all the places mentioned here! I was at the Tokeland Hotel and Billy's just last month. All the places are interesting but the only place that I got a creepy vibe was Billy's, the food was great, but atmosphere was dark, depressing to me.
Me too, but the Tokeland Hotel made me feel that way too. Thank so much for commenting, sorry I did not respond sooner but I was in Las Vegas doing a video on a vacation for under $99 a day