Long Beach anchors the southern reach of Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, a narrow strip of land between Willapa Bay and the Pacific Ocean at the state's far southwest corner. The city sits in Pacific County near the mouth of the Columbia River, across the water from Astoria, Oregon. Its defining feature is a broad, continuous stretch of ocean beach — about 28 miles of firm sand that has made the peninsula a Pacific Northwest resort destination since the late nineteenth century. Long before vacationers arrived, the peninsula was home to the Chinook people, who fished and traded along the Columbia. The area entered American history in 1805–06, when the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Pacific at the mouth of the Columbia and wintered nearby; the peninsula is recognized as part of the expedition's final destination, a story told at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center within Cape Disappointment State Park. Two historic lighthouses, Cape Disappointment and North Head, stand at the peninsula's tip. Through the twentieth century Long Beach grew as a summer resort, drawing families from Portland and the wider Northwest to its beaches, clam beds and modest motels and cottages. Today tourism and hospitality anchor the local economy, joined by commercial fishing and the port at nearby Ilwaco. The resident population of about 1,400 is outnumbered many times over during peak summer weekends. Life in Long Beach suits people drawn to the coast — retirees, second-home owners, small-business proprietors and families who value beach access, fresh seafood and a relaxed pace. It is a year-round community with a pronounced seasonal rhythm, where the August kite festival and fall storm-watching punctuate the calendar.