Dorothy Anderson Cabin at Seabrook

Seabrook took possession of an old historic cabin last year, and is renovating it.  See the story below.

Dorothy Anderson was born in Norway in August 1891. She came to the United States in 1910 where she settled in Seattle to work for thirteen years in various city hotels. After a divorce and a desire for a change of scenery, she moved out to Washington coast community of Ocean City (located eight miles south of Seabrook). There, she fell in love with the area for its ocean beaches, its forests where deer and bear roamed, and for its abundance of wild birds. In so many ways, it reminded her of her childhood home in Norway and brought back fond memories of her native homeland. Feeling at home, Dorothy decided to build herself a beach cabin all her own.

She cleared her newly purchased property of brush and pulled stumps with her bare hands. It was in 1926 that she built her cabin from logs found on the beach which were transported in a wheelbarrow across Connor Creek. The ceiling of her cabin is made of wainscoting retrieved from a shipwreck. Eight more cabins were added with the help of a part-time handyman. Sadly, those cabins have long since been lost and remain a vague memory by the old-timers of the area.

 
The good news is that Dorothy’s very own little beach cabin was rescued from demolition and relocated right here to Seabrook, WA . She was an important figure this Dorothy, as she is mentioned several times in author Norah Berg’s 1952 autobiography, Lady on the Beach (available at Blind Dog Books). Norah Berg’s own brief brush with fame was when she was recognized and subsequently published by TIME magazine for her accounts of beach combing and living along the WA Coast back in the Depression Era of America. Dorothy, Norah’s close friend, died on January 22, 1976 and is buried at Fern Hill Cemetery in Aberdeen, Washington.   Here's a picture of the renovation-in-progress.