East Beach
Lake Crescent, Washington

A wagon road was constructed in the 1890s from Port Angeles to East Beach at the east end of Lake Crescent. The wagon road was improved for automobile use by 1911. The above scene, published by 1916, shows the ferry dock, which prior to the 1920s was the terminus of the road from Port Angeles. The roof of the 1½-story building shown in the photographs below is also visible behind the shorter snags in the center foreground of this scene. The exact same snags are visible behind the house in two of the scenes below, if observed very closely.

This scene of the East Beach Hotel is from an old hand-tinted enlarged photograph, which probably dates from about the early 1920s. The East Beach Hotel was started by Frank P. Fisher, at East Beach, on the east end of Lake Crescent. In 1909 Frank Fisher replaced his earlier small log cabin with this 1½-story frame constructed main building. The operation of the East Beach Hotel was taken over by William and Betty Lenoir by the early 1920s. The Lenoir's further developed the East Beach accomodations, before relocating to Fairholme at the west end of the lake, in the mid 1930s. This scene appears to have been photographed from the ferry dock shown in the top image.

This close-up of the East Beach Hotel appears to have been photographed about the same year as the previous scene. Both scenes were probably photographed by about the early 1920s. The small sign hanging over the front porch entrance says East Beach Hotel. Old handwriting along a bottom white border on this photograph says “East Beach, The Home of The Boiled Dinner”.

This scene was photographed probably a few years later than the previous two scenes, as is evident by the slightly larger trees and shrubs and by the addition built onto the south end of the hotel. William and Betty Lenoir likely planted the fruit trees which can be seen flowering in this photograph. This scene also appears to have been photographed from the ferry dock shown in the top image. The East Beach Hotel no longer exists and a lone fruit tree is all that remains.

This scene, photographed by 1922, shows the side-wheeler ferry Storm King approaching the East Beach ferry dock, at the east end of Lake Crescent. Clallam County ferry service on Lake Crescent was discontinued after the Olympic Highway was completed along the south shore of the lake in 1922.

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Andrew Craig Magnuson
Forks, Washington
Olympic Peninsula

Copyright © by Andrew Craig Magnuson