Return to a Rough Coastal City: Aberdeen, Washington

 

We stayed in Aberdeen for a night before heading out to Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge for the spring migration. The NWR is famous for the thousands of shorebirds (sand pipers and similar) who stop to feed and rest before continuing their amazing migration to Canada and Alaska. During summer. they feed and breed in the shorelands in the north and then migrate south in autumn.  

A few photographs around downtown were too good to resist. Poor old Aberdeen - you can tell that it was a rich and prosperous city once. Maybe it is coming back, but it went through a rough period when the timber industry contracted in the 1970s. 

 

US 101 bridge over Chehalis River with Wishkah River in foreground (1/8 ƒ/11, orange filter)

The Wishkah River flows south from the foothills of the Olympics and debauches into the Chehalis near the east end of town. I have photographed the Wishkah before in early 2024 and again later in 2024. 

 

Alley parallel to West Wishkah Street

Decorated dumpster? Alley parallel to West Wishkah Street.

In the business district, many of the main streets had a parallel alley. At the turn of the century, the alley likely served for coal delivery and trash pickup. 

Warehouse on South K Street

South K Street, view towards rail yard and Chehalis River

Vapolife Building, South K Street

Homeless behind Safeway store, South K Street

Hotel Morck, Heron Street

The Hotel Morck, built in 1924, was the centerpiece of downtown Aberdeen. For almost four decades, it was the sophisticated gathering place for Aberdeen's elite and visitors. According to the National Park Service, "The hotel building exemplifies late 19th and early 20th Century Classical Revival architecture, with the extensive use of terra cotta and a formal tri-parte arrangement." The hotel closed in 1961 and was converted into apartments. In the early 1980, the building converted into a low-income apartment complex, after which it degraded severely. Grokipedia has a detained description of the architecture and history. 

Undated post card; source unknown

I took these photographs on April 27, 2026 on Fuji Acros film with my Rolleiflex 3.5E camera with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. All frames were tripod-mounted. Northeast Photographics in Bath, Maine developed the film and scanned the negatives with a Noritsu system.