Hope and East Hope developed as communities shaped by industry, disaster, and rebuilding. The Hope Lumber Company in East Hope, established in 1901, fueled the economy of a new community, and the East Hope Hotel, with 25 guest rooms, housed many millworkers. Historic sites included the original Thornton School, Spring Creek, the Henrietta tugboat, and Star Market, operated by Harry and Ella Dreisbach from 1908 to 1921. The 1894 flood changed the landscape, destroying buildings along the tracks and sending floodwaters to the level of the present highway, and fires later leveled parts of both communities, including a 1921 blaze that destroyed the market and hotel.