Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Aberdeen developed around a salmon-packing plant in the 1870s and Hoquiam's first
lumber mill opened in 1882. By 1910 there were over 30 lumber mills ringing the harbor
and the burgeoning twin towns had earned a reputation as the roughest places in the na-
tion, replete with whorehouses, gambling dens and a sky-high murder rate. Following the
Great Depression, when the lumber mills were reduced to less than a dozen, Grays Har-
bor hit a long decline, exacerbated by an equally catastrophic fall in Pacific salmon
stocks. When a planned nuclear facility went bust in 1982 the unemployment rate
doubled, and the gritty rough-around-the-edges feel can still be sensed today.
COME AS YOU ARE
'Yeah I was run out of town. They chased me up to the castle of Aberdeen with
torches. Just like the Frankenstein monster. And I got away in a hot air balloon. And
I came here to Seattle.' Kurt Cobain,Monk Magazine, 1992.
Aberdeen's biggest star, the late Kurt Cobain, front man of the 1990s band Nir-
vana and the oft-dubbed father of grunge, wasn't in a loving relationship with his
hometown. He often criticized the logging outpost for being small-minded (among
other things) and the tales from his youth, from dropping out of school to sleeping
in cardboard boxes and becoming a janitor, do not speak of happy times. But today
he can perhaps smile in his grave as everyone driving into Aberdeen is greeted with
the sign 'Welcome to Aberdeen: Come as You Are' (a quote from the Nirvana song
of the same title). The boy who once painted 'queer' on the sides of trucks to shake
up the status quo, ended up making more of a mark than anyone expected. Still,
some locals joke that little has changed and the sign out of town should read
'Leave as you were.'
Pick up a copy of the Kurt Cobain tour map at the Aberdeen Museum of History
(or get less organized information off the website). Sites to see include a guitar
statue dedicated to Cobain near the Young Street Bridge, where the artist used to
hang out and drink Thunderbird with local homeless people; Seafirst Bank (now a
Bank of America, 101 E Market St), where the singer was once arrested for vandal-
ism; and Rosevear's Music Center (110 E Wishkah St), where an uncle bought
Cobain a guitar for his 14th birthday.
Sights & Activities
First impressions deceive. There's actually more to Aberdeen and Hoquiam than meets
the eye.
Lady Washington
HISTORIC SHIP
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