How Cannon Beach got it’s name!

The community of Cannon Beach was originally named Ecola, after the town’s Northern creek that empties into the Pacific. Ekoli is a Chinook jargon word for “whale”. Early settlers later renamed the creek “Elk Creek”, and a community with the same name formed there.

Elk Creek – the name given by the early settlers – was renamed Ecola Creek to honor William Clark’s original “Ekoli” naming. Clark had applied the name “Ekoli” to Elk Creek – or Ecola Creek – after his famous 1806 “Whale Blubber” trek which you can read about Cannon Beach here.

In 1922, the community of Ecola was renamed Cannon Beach (after the name of the 9 mile beach that extends south of Ecola creek, and ends at Arch Cape) at the insistence of the Post Office. Apparently because the name was frequently confused with Eola.