Last Updated: November 16, 2007

In July 1897 the tax rolls listed only four persons from the northern part of Lincoln County; Kern Bro.'s Packing, Larkin Logan, Siletz Morris and M.F. Phillips. (7)

Mail was delivered to Roads End out of the Otis Post Office which was first established on April 24, 1900 by Archibald S. Thompson at a site now known as Neotsu. Thompson named the station in honor of Brigadier-General Elwell Otis who had been the Commander of the Department of Columbia during the 1890's. (Payne - Oregon Post Offices)

Among the Indians who held allotments at Roads End was Lolla Widgeon. Some of the land, either not allotted or returning to public domain through the death of its Indian owner, was homesteaded in 1901 by George F. Brown (Picture). Abraham and Louisa Logan, Indians of the Siletz Reservation, also received allotments in this area. Logan Creek at Roads End State Park and Logan Road are named for their family. (3) The original Logan house was located near the head of Logan Creek east of Roads End (Picture). (NG - 4/1/1976)

In 1909 Fred Butterfield of Siletz and a Dr. Billings of Albanywent into business together running 5000 head of sheep on land leased from the Logan family. The Butterfields were the only non-indians living in Roads End. The family ceased operations in 1911. (11)  

In 1924 Highway 101 (Roosevelt or Coast Highway then) was opened as far south as Taft. (NG - 4/22/1976)

In May 1926, D.N. Hendricks purchased the Brown homestead and later other parcels of property at Roads End. He began cultivating peas on the meadows near the beach. In August 1928, he had nine acres in production and by 1931 expanded his farm to ten acres (Picture). In February 1931, Harry Thorpe and W.H. Dalrymple commenced sluicing the beach sands at Roads End for gold hoping to find a steady income in the midst of the nation's depression. (8)

Mr. Hendricks built the first home in Roads End at the end of what would be Logan Road. (NG - 7/1/1976) He also gave Roads End its name when he filed his town site with the Secretary of State in 1926. Roads End was designated as the strip of land between Logan Creek and the Hendricks residence and from the beach to the top of the ridge. Although the town as yet had no Post Office, RFD Route 1 out of Otis served most of the residents. (3) There were no roads at the time Mr. Hendricks built his home, so all the materials had to be brought in by team and wagon at low tide. (NG - 4/1/1976)

The Hendricks family built a water system with a reservoir near their home, the beginning of the system that would eventually supply water to the other Roads End homes. They put in a gravel road from their property south to highway 101. This became Logan Road, named after Logan Creek (Picture). (NG - 4/1/1976)

Amanda Logan died in 1919 and President Woodrow Wilson gave a fee sample patent to her heirs, Abram Logan, Larkey Logan and Annie Winkler. In 1920, Annie Winkler sold her interest to Jack Fendall and his wife Mildred. They deeded the parcel to Laura Fendall in 1921, and she sold the land to Dee Hendricks in 1926. Ruth Grover bought a part of this parcel from Hendricks and started building a home the same year for herself and her mother, Eva Dennis Grover. (NG - 6/10/1976)

Bill and Laura Fendall settled at Roads End prior to 1910. Their son took over their property in 1913. In the 1930's, following the building of the Salmon River Highway in 1928 and the coast road north of Neskowin in 1923, the once isolated coastline between the Salmon River and Boiler Bay began to attract increasing numbers of tourists and residents. Roads End, platted in 1926 by D.N. Hendricks, became one of Lincoln County's new resort towns. (3) Major building of summer homes, however, followed World War II.

Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Wisner and their young family, the Butlers and the Van Slykes were here as early as 1927 buying lots from D.N. Hendricks. They jokingly referred to themselves as the "First Families" of Roads End. They camped out in a tent the summer of 1928 and have the distinction of being the third family to build on the beachfront, and the first to complete their cottage (Picture). As more families found Roads End in the 1930's, they built homes and cottages and spent much of the summer here. (NG - 7/1/1976) Mrs. Rita Campbell, daughter of Richard Wisner, and family still own and use the original home to this day.