We Bet You Didn’t Know This Small Town In Washington Was Home To Largest Frying Pan In The World

The ocean town of Long Beach, Washington has a rich history dating back to 1880. Twenty-eight miles of sandy peninsula await you just beyond the famous "World’s Longest Beach" sign.  Though Long Beach is not technically the longest beach in the world, it is the longest beach in the United States and the world’s longest, drivable beach. Long Beach shares another distinction that’s "almost true". Read on to learn about the roadside attraction that’s been drawing visitors to this oceanfront oasis for decades.

The sandy beach and abundance of razor clams have drawn people to Long Beach for over a century.

Can you imagine hitching up a horse-drawn wagon, and bringing the family to the beach for a day of clam digging? That’s exactly what they did in the early days of Long Beach, Washington.

People of all ages have enjoyed digging for razor clams on the Long Beach Peninsula.

By 1929, razor clamming had become such a popular activity, that for the first time, a limit was put on recreational harvesting.

What do you do with all those clams? Fry them in a pan, of course!

In 1941 the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce commissioned Northwest Copper and Sheet Metal Works to create a giant frying pan to help promote the first annual Long Beach Clam Festival. At 20 feet tall, and weighing in at over 1300 pounds, the frying pan was the largest of its kind at that time.

It takes a LOT of clams to fill a frying pan of this size.

Chef Wellington W. Marsh created a giant razor clam fritter for the first Clam Festival in Long Beach. 200 pounds of clams, ten gallons of milk, twenty dozen eggs, and thirteen gallons of oil were used to fry the fritter to golden deliciousness. The pan continued to be used year after year for the Clam Festival.

Washingtonians might recognize the name Marsh.

Chef Marsh’s grandfather curated Marsh’s Free Museum, a quirky oddities shop, and popular tourist destination. The frying pan hung outside the museum for years before succumbing to the elements and rusting.

The people of Long Beach have fond memories of the yearly clam bake.

When the giant frying pan fell into disrepair, local retired fisherman Everett L. Mosher decided to try to save this piece of Long Beach History. It took six years of restoration, and in the end, the only salvageable piece was the original handle.

Today, the famous frying pan is displayed next to an enormous razor clam.

The frying pan is now made of fiberglass and hangs with its original handle on display in honor of the very first Razor Clam Festival. A smaller pan is now used to cook fritters at the yearly festival.

Razor clamming is still a popular pastime in Long Beach.

Though the title of "World’s Largest Frying Pan" no longer belongs to Long Beach, they still hold the distinction of having the only giant frying pan used to cook clam fritters.

Have you visited the Long Beach Peninsula? Did you go clam digging or snap a photo in front of the famous giant frying pan? We’d love to hear about your experience. Leave us a comment and tell us what you think of Long Beach’s razor clams.