Most of Ocean Park was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listings are the Wreckage, The and the Shogren Cottage. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 2000.
The Ocean Park post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nahcotta (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,459 in 20002020 census: 1,814120 years
How historic is Ocean Park?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ocean Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ocean Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ocean Park is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ocean Park’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ocean Park’s 9.4 sits above most of its state (84% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ocean Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Ocean Park was once a station on the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company, a narrow gauge railroad that ran along the Long Beach Peninsula from 1889 to 1930. One of the oldest buildings in Pacific County is the Taylor Hotel building, built in 1887, currently in use as Adelaide's Cafe and Bookstore named after Adelaide Taylor, the wife of the original hotel owner. The oldest building in Ocean Park is the Lamberson Cabin, built in 1883 by Buell Lamberson. The cabin has been kept in private family ownership through the generations for the use of Lamberson descendants.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Ocean Park’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, Nahcotta, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Nahcotta
1890–1966
Ocean Park
1906–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NahcottaOcean Bay Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Ocean Park’s history
What year was Ocean Park founded?
The Ocean Park post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ocean Park rank for history?
Ocean Park is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Ocean Park?
Two places: the Wreckage, The (listed 1979) and the Shogren Cottage (2019).
How old are the homes in Ocean Park?
8% of Ocean Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1984.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1909
2021
2015
2013
2013
2000
