A4 • Friday, August 6, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Prom: Throngs, notables attended the 1921 Prom dedication
Continued from Page A1
Holladay in the city’s Historic Gil-
bert District to commemorate the day’s
activities at 11:30 a.m.
At 1 p.m., visitors and residents are
invited to an offi cial ceremony at the
Turnaround, with remarks from may-
ors past and present, community rep-
resentatives and offi cials in attendance.
State Sen. Betsy Johnson will give the
keynote speech. A time capsule will be
buried during the ceremony and another
bottle of sea water will be broken to
commemorate the milestone.
Built at an expense of $200,000 and
paid for by taxpayers, the Prom was
designed by L.C. Rogers, then the city
engineer and built by Jay H. Tillman, a
Seaside contractor who built the Youngs
Bay Bridge and paved the fi rst 10 miles
of the “Roosevelt Coast Highway.”
Rogers used horse teams to replace the
wooden boardwalk and turnaround with
concrete.
The Prom is 14 feet wide and 1.5
miles long, and 24 blocks along the
beach from Avenue U to 12th Avenue,
with 2,329 arches and 50 lamp posts.
The 1921 dedication drew a crowd
estimated between 25,000 to 40,000
people.
Mayor E.N. Hurd — also the editor
and publisher of the Signal — and city
councilors received congratulatory let-
ters from the mayors of San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Spokane, Butte, Salem and
Salt Lake City, among many others.
The celebration clogged traffi c Sat-
urday afternoon and into early evening.
Hundreds arrived from every train — at
a time when Seaside was a rail destina-
tion, $3 round-trip from Portland — and
visitors included Gov. Ben Olcott and
Portland Mayor George Baker.
Visitors continued to arrive through-
out the night and Sunday morning. For
several hours a continuous stream of
motorists arrived from the north where
they had camped along the highway.
“You have built something which will
attract people from the entire northwest
to your city,” Baker said in his address
in front of the Hotel Seaside. “You’re
going to have a real city by the sea.”
The formal dedication ceremony
came when eight-year-old Martha B.
Hagmeier — daughter of a member of
the Prom committee, Dr. Otto Hagmeier
— christened the Prom by breaking a
bottle of salt water near the center of the
Turnaround.
Seaside Museum/Bruce Andrews Restoration
ABOVE: People gather in front of the
Moore Hotel in Seaside to watch and
listen to the Royal Rosarians from
Portland’s Rose Festival play during
the celebration of the dedication of
Seaside’s new promenade on Aug. 7,
1921. LEFT: This restoration of a Frank
Woodfi eld photo shows the recently
constructed Turnaround with tourists
and local townsfolk in town for the
dedication. BELOW: This restored
image shows people and cars on the
Turnaround during the dedication of
the Promenade at Seaside.
The program closed with dances by
the pupils of Professor Glen Oswald and
“My Own United States,” sung by “Ore-
gon’s Queen of Song,” Leah Cohen.
“At the end of the conclusion of
her fi nal encore, she was presented
with a large bouquet of fl owers by her
admirers.”
More events followed Sunday, with a
concert by the Rosarians. In the skies, an
airplane exhibition featured a 5,000-foot
parachute jump by Sgt. Ivan J. Devil-
liers, described in the Signal as “the fl y-
ing fool.”
Two weeks after the Prom’s open-
ing celebration, a “bathing girls” parade
stage on the Prom brought 25 entrants,
with cash prizes. This was one year
before Miss America made Atlantic
City, New Jersey, famous.
The Prom was so enthusiastically
received that Oregon politicians reached
out to Ohio Gov. Warren G. Harding
to suggest Seaside as a host city of the
upcoming world disarmament confer-
ence. While Seaside failed to make the
short list, later that year, the world’s larg-
est naval powers gathered in Washing-
ton, D.C., for a conference to discuss
naval disarmament and ways to relieve
growing tensions in East Asia.
“Seaside is fast preparing for the great
infl ux of travelers to come and with the
next season, there will be ample accom-
modations for all,” wrote the Signal.
“Seasiders want the travelers to come
and in return will endeavor to entertain
all while here.”
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for lat-
est meeting information and
attendance guidelines.
MONDAY, AUG. 9
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13
Gearhart City Council 6 p.m.,
public hearings, cityofgearhart.
us.
TUESDAY, AUG. 17
THURSDAY, AUG. 12
Seaside School District, 6 p.m.,
seaside.k12.or.us/meetings.
Seaside Civic and Convention
Center Commission, 5 p.m., 415
First Ave.
Gearhart Small Business Com-
mittee, 6 p.m., cityofgearhart.
com.
Gearhart Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., cityofgearhart.us.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., work session, 989
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
Broadway.
TUESDAY, AUG. 24
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center.
Seaside Parks Advisory Com-
mittee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Seaside Civic and Convention
Center Commission, 5 p.m., 415
First Ave.
TUESDAY, AUG. 31
Seaside Community Center
Commission, 10 a.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., 989 Broad-
way.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 7
MONDAY, SEPT. 13
Gearhart Parks Master Plan
Citizens Advisory Committee,
5:30 p.m., cityofgearhart.com.
Gearhart City Council and
Planning Commission, work
session, 6:30 p.m., cityofgearhart.
com.
MONDAY, AUG. 23
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 1
Seaside Library Board of
Directors, 4:30 p.m., 1131
Broadway St.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
Seaside Improvement Com-
mission, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commission,
6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 15
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., 989 Broad-
way.
Seaside Signal
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