Built in 1933, the Pine Grove Community House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for the building’s association with the founding of the City of Manzanita and its local government, establishment of community social events, and the gradual evolution of the town to a full-fledged community and center for coastal recreation.
Pine Grove represents the first tangible civic project of the first residents of Manzanita who, with no early municipal government, formed their own community group to address the needs and management of their small town. In the absence of more formal, city-run facilities, the Pine Grove Community House served as Manzanita’s first City Hall and library. Pine Grove not only functioned as Manzanita’s early central government, but hosted meetings resulting in the formation of the first fire and police departments. The Pine Grove Community House has grown with the City of Manzanita and served many functions that are now carried on in different facilities, but it was at the Pine Grove that all of these activities began and flourished sufficiently to create the need for expansion beyond the building in which they began. Among the founders was Ben S. Lane, who would later serve the City of Manzanita as its first mayor and serving the City in that capacity for thirteen years. Lane’s wife, Johanna Lane, brought a love for reading and community service that made the Lanes a formidable couple. The Pine Grove Community House tells part of the story of coastal recreation towns and the settlement of the Oregon Coast, including the transition from mere vacation destination to a formal community and eventual municipality.