HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A small Moclips museum of North Beach coastal history where investigators reported faint voices and a piñata that seemed to answer questions.
4658 State Route 109, Moclips, WA 98562
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free admission; donations welcomed. Seasonal and limited hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Single-story museum in a former 1940s store building.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1940 · Primary museum for Grays Harbor North Beach history, opened 2003 · Documents the Northern Pacific Railway terminus at Moclips · Covers coastal logging, shipwrecks, and the Quinault Indian Nation
The Museum of the North Beach grew out of the Moclips-by-the-Sea Historical Society, founded in July 2001 by Moclips residents Kathy Jaquet, Lee Marriott, and Kelly Calhoun to preserve the history of the Grays Harbor North Beach. The museum held its grand opening on January 18, 2003, drawing more than 250 attendees. It occupies a 1940s building, the former Hewitt's Frozen Foods store, provided by the nearby Ocean Crest Resort.
The collection focuses on the small communities strung along the North Beach coast. A central thread is the Northern Pacific Railway, whose line once reached its western terminus at Moclips, where a 1905 depot stood. Other displays cover coastal logging, the area's shipwrecks, and the Quinault Indian Nation, whose lands border the North Beach.
Kelly Calhoun has served as the museum's executive director and curator. The society's long-term goal is to build a replica of the 1905 Northern Pacific depot to house the collection permanently. The museum is small but well-visited, reporting tens of thousands of visitors from across the United States and many countries since opening, and it functions as the main repository for North Beach history.
Sources
The museum's paranormal reputation comes from a 2014 GraysHarborTalk guide to ghost-hunting in Grays Harbor, which placed it among local sites where investigators reported unusual activity. The account describes a building whose exhibits document hard coastal history, including fire deaths, a fatal train accident, and shipwrecks along the North Beach.
During the reported investigation, participants said they recorded EMF activity, captured faint voices on audio, and watched a hanging piñata appear to rotate when questions were asked of it. These are anecdotal results from a single feature article rather than a documented or repeated investigation, and the museum's own materials present it as a history museum rather than a haunted attraction.
With corroboration limited to one source for the paranormal claims, this entry is held for review. The museum's value is its coastal-history collection; the ghost story is a thin local-color footnote tied to the real losses recorded in its exhibits.
Browse displays on the Northern Pacific Railway terminus at Moclips, coastal logging, shipwrecks, the Quinault Indian Nation, and the small beach communities of Grays Harbor's North Beach.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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