In the Alderwood District of Seabrook, there is an adorable old cabin that looks like something out of “When Calls the Heart.” Built in the 1900s, this historical building on the Washington coast is worth a drive to explore and learn about Dorothy Anderson, the woman who built, and lived in, the cabin.
Dorothy Antonnette Anderson was born on August 10, 1891 in Nessa, Norway to Jacob and Ellen Anderson. “There’s not much known about her life growing up in Norway,” shares Kelly Calhoun, curator of the Museum of the North Beach.
From Norway to Ocean City, Dorothy Anderson’s Early Days
Dorothy Anderson was 19 when she came to the United States. Calhoun says there are documents showing she was in South Dakota, and came to Washington state from there. “For many years, she worked in the hotel industry in Spokane and later Seattle,” he adds.
While in Seattle, she fell in love with the Washington Coast. “She was inspired by the natural surroundings at Ocean City, which reminded her so much of her native homeland: the ocean beaches, forests, deer, bear and abundance of wild birds brought back fond memories of Nessa, Norway,” explains Calhoun. “In 1927, she returned to the North Beach and purchased two lots in Ocean City where she built her cabin.”
That’s right, this tough entrepreneur built her first cabin by herself with logs she found on the beach, for free. You can read more about how she accomplished this in the book, “Lady on the Beach,” written in 1952 by Norah Berg. Norah recalls their first conversation:
“I brushed my land myself, dug out the stumps and leveled it off. I didn’t have to buy any wood. I found all I needed for my house on the beach, and I pushed it to my land over the Connor Creek bridge in a wheelbarrow.” The ceiling was made with wainscoting from a shipwreck. She trimmed the logs on the inside with a Norwegian yak knife to resemble her home in Norway.
Dorothy Anderson, Early Entrepreneur on the Washington Coast
Dorothy was driven and did not confine herself to the constructs of what a woman should be doing in the early 1900s and beyond. But she was not alone in her little pocket of the Washington Coast. There appear to be many early entrepreneurial women on the Washington Coast. “During this time, there were other women who owned their own businesses on the North Beach,” shares Calhoun. “Dorothy’s next-door neighbor, Nina Rutherford owned a gas station, grocery store and was the Ocean City postmaster, the post office was located at the back of her store. The incoming mail arrived at the Ocean City post office around 11:30 a.m. and became the local social and gossip center. Nina and Dorothy became best friends for the rest of their lives.”
She was a charter member of the Ocean City Economics Club and kept her property well-maintained. Eventually, she had seven more cabins built with the help of a handyman. “This became Dorothy’s Tourist Harbor, one of the original resorts on the North Beach,” explains Calhoun. “The cabins were built in a circle on her cleared property and gave the appearance of professional construction.” In 1949, she sold the cabins to W.A. Meister who renamed them Tourist Harbor Cabins.
Her other economic endeavors included painting ceramic cups, saucers and other items she sold to tourists. You can see some of these on display at the Dorothy Anderson Cabin.
After selling her cabins, she moved into a larger home in Ocean City. “Not much is known about Dorothy’s family. She had an unsuccessful marriage and most likely no children,” shares Calhoun. She died in 1976 and is buried at Fern Hill Cemetery in Aberdeen.
Saving Dorothy Anderson’s Cabin
Calhoun says that in 1987, Norah Berg’s home was burned down by the Ocean City Fire Department due to its condition. “This caused a huge uproar, having lost one of Ocean City’s iconic buildings,” he adds. “In response, the locals banded together to create the North Beach Historical & Preservation Society and took over Dorothy’s cabin, turning it into a mini museum.”
That same year, Governor Booth Gardner’s wife Jean Forstrom was the first to sign the guest book.
However, by 2004, the cabin was barely open Calhoun says. “The members of the historical society were getting older, and it became difficult to continue with the cabin,” he continues. So, they contacted the Moclips by the Sea Historical Society, which runs the Museum of the North Beach, and asked them to take over the cabin. The cabin was moved off the private property that was it’s original home, and sat for three years in a temporary location.
In 2013, Seabrook offered two lots on Meriweather Street to place the cabin and paid to have it moved there. “In 2013, the Seabrook Foundation and Moclips by the Sea Historical Society pitched in $30,000 to completely restore the cabin,” says Calhoun. “During the renovation, several 1929 issues of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers used as insulation were found along the rafters. We opened the cabin to the public in 2015 and, up until COVID, it was the starting point of the annual Norwegian Constitution Day parade held annually in May.”
When the Museum of the North Beach had to close for repairs in October of 2024, they moved several artifacts to the Dorothy Anderson Cabin. “This major change has quickly become very popular with locals and visitors,” shares Calhoun. “We truly believe Dorothy would be proud to know her home, which she built by herself nearly 100 years ago, is very much loved and appreciated.”
To learn more, visit the Museum of the North Beach Facebook page.
