In One Ear: First mayor

Published 6:00 am Thursday, January 29, 2026

“On Jan. 18, 1922, Long Beach, Washington, became the fourth, and so far, the last city in Pacific County to incorporate,” the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum posted on Facebook.

The museum noted that in 1880, Henry Harrison (H. H.) Tinker and his wife, Nancy, purchased land on the peninsula in Washington Territory, and moved there with their family. Creating a beach destination and resort for an anticipated tourist boom was Henry Tinker’s goal. Accordingly, Long Beach’s original name was Tinkerville.

By the end of the 19th century, the town was flush with tourists during the summer season, and had “hotels, dance halls, natatoriums, and other amenities” as attractions for beach devotees. Enthusiasm waned, however, in the early 1920s. By then, other coastal towns in Oregon had railroads and roads, so were easier to access.

When Long Beach was incorporated in 1922, Henry’s son, Gilbert Edison “Gil” Tinker (pictured) was elected as the first mayor. Born in 1879 in Clatskanie, Oregon, he was brought up on, and spent his life on the peninsula.

After the incorporation, it was obvious the town’s infrastructure needed updating, so one of Gil’s more impressive accomplishments was widening Pacific Avenue by moving 27 buildings 25 feet back from the railroad tracks.

Among his many other achievements, along with being a carpenter and the first Long Beach fire chief, his obituary noted that he “was an ardent fisherman, beachcomber and weather prophet.” He died in 1959, and is buried at Lone Fir Cemetery in Long Beach. (Photos: Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum Photo Collection)