How can the History Center help you better understand Cannon Beach History? With its wonderful collections of Cannon Beach photos, artifacts, audio tapes and videos of course! Come into the History Center and see what we have available to help in your research. Donations and loans of historical material are always welcome!

 


ORAL HISTORIES
Members and visitors are encouraged to visit the History Center and listen to and/or view the Society’s collection of audio and visual oral histories to learn more about the people and history of the area. Following is an excerpt from a tape in the oral history files by George Shields, long-time Cannon Beach resident.

Mark Warren and Will Warren were my great uncles and they were related on my father's side of the family. They homesteaded a portion of Cannon Beach now referred to as Tolovana Park, and it is still part of Cannon Beach at this day ... and one of the brothers built a hotel at the present site of the Tolovana Inn ... the Warren Hotel. It was probably the showcase of the north coast in 1912 when they opened their doors. The first guest to sign in the guest register was Governor Oswald West, who was a friend of the Warrens ... Mark Warren owned and operated the hotel and also an auto campground that was about a quarter of a mile north of the site of the Tolovana Inn now. The other brother, Will Warren, owned the water works ... The name Tolovana Park and all the streets with strange-sounding names that are in Tolovana Park were done by the Warren brothers. They platted it all, and they surveyed it all and they named them. Primarily they came out of the gold rush in the Klondike area, and they came back with these names that were Alaskan Indian names. Tolovana Park for openers, which means "river of sticks." We moved down there and my mother became the post mistress in the Tolovana Post Office ... My dad started a wood yard across the street. He sawed wood and sold wood to the neighborhood and to the local folks that came here in the summer to vacation. He also was the one that started the oil business in Cannon beach when oil circulating heaters first came into being ... Prior to that it was all wood ... Tourism was the summer activity; it started Memorial Day and ended on Labor Day. I think the population of Cannon Beach in the wintertime probably numbered ... about 75 people ... In the summer time it ... swelled to about 300 and ... in those days, that was big time.

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
The Sociey's historical collections consist of memorabilia, photographs, historical artifacts, theatrical programs, postcards, printed resources (newpapers and newsletters), and other ephemera that support historical research relating to Cannon Beach.

LINKS TO OTHER HISTORY RESOURCES
Follow the links below to other sites specializing in local, state, and national history.

LINKS TO LOCAL COMMUNITY RESOURCES
For more information on our community, visit the sites below: