Hoquiam, WA: revitalizing its historic downtown district
January 2023: Hoquiam (population 8,776*) is a port town on Grays Harbor in the county of Grays Harbor. It is the little sister city of Aberdeen (population 17,013*) with which it shares its eastern border, and an economic and cultural history – and a bit of a sports rivalry. We stopped by its historic downtown for lunch on our recent road trip to the Pacific coast.
Hoquiam – A Brief history
Hoquiam was named after a Native-American word meaning “hungry for wood”, describing the large amount of driftwood that could be found at the mouth of the Hoquiam River. Logging operations, lumber milling, and related product industries were established in the 1870s. The area eventually became home to the Grays Harbor Pulp Company which merged with Rayonier Incorporated to produce a key ingredient for the product rayon.
Notable historical residents include a pioneer in plywood manufacturing (Thomas Autzen) and the aviator who founded the Boeing company (William Boeing). And more recently, Kurt Cobain who was born in Aberdeen.
Downtown vibe / walkability
We did not spend much time in downtown Hoquiam – although I would definitely like to come back to spend more time in the Grays Harbor area! I want to give a shout out to the Hoquiam Brewery where we had lunch. We chose multiple appetizers which were really good. The beer and cider were terrific, and the atmosphere was wonderful – a big space with an industrial and yet comfortable vibe.
A deeper dive
I found this short video about the historic downtown and waterfront area of Hoquiam. It shares the historic nature of the downtown area as well as featuring some of its many businesses.
Local Activities / Events
Hoquiam and Aberdeen share a local Chamber of Commerce.
From the Hoquiam website, I learned that their biggest annual festival is called Loggers Play Day, which celebrates the area’s logging heritage. This annual September event includes a parade, local craft food and features a competition for all sorts of skills related to logging. The 2022 event included axe throwing, power saw bucking, tree climbing, log chopping, open power saw and the grand finale of dropping a Douglas fir log so precisely that it hit watermelons and an old Volkswagen Beetle. Pretty cool!
Learn more about what there is to see and do in the area from the Grays Harbor visitor’s webpage.
