Nahcotta Pacific County, Washington
NAHCOTTA: Willapa Bay community on Sandridge Road south of Oysterville. The community of Nahcotta was the site of the Chinook Indian encampment called " Nu-pats-tcthl." John Crellin, Jr., oysterman, filed a Donation Land Claim for the land in 1855. In 1889, John Peter Paul bought the claim and subdivided portions of it into city lots and blocks. He called his town Nahcotta in honor of Chief Nahcati (his name is spelled several ways) who lived there during Paul's lifetime. Paul created the town in anticipation of the arrival of the Ilwaco railroad in 1889. The railroad was supposed to terminate just south of Oysterville on Shoalwater Bay, but Lewis Loomis and other stockholders changed their minds when they realized the bay was deeper at Nahcotta. A post office was established at Nahcotta October 16, 1889. About the same time, another town called Sealand was platted on the north border of Nahcotta. Sealand was the creation of B. A. Seaborg, a railroad stockholder, who lobbied to have Sealand named the official terminus of the railroad. Seaborg convinced the post office department to move their Nahcotta office across the railroad tracks to Sealand on April 3, 1890, and put Sealand on the November 1892 ballot as one of the choices for a new county seat, but Loomis and friends were the winners in the terminus sweepstakes, and South Bend won the courthouse. The post office was moved back to Nahcotta on February 1, 1894. Jacob Kamm, another railroad stockholder, bought Seaborg's Sealand property and the would-be town soon disappeared from local maps. The Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company terminus was located at Nahcotta (1889 to 1930) until the railroad made its last run. Today, residential neighborhoods, oyster canneries and a boat basin dominate the landscape.
Mapped Location
Nahcotta: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Nahcotta
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Nahcotta
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Nahcotta | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Nahcotta
References to Nahcotta that document the origin of its place name
NAHCOTTA, a town on the west shore of Willapa Bay in the west central part of Pacific County. It was named by John P. Paul in the eighties after an Indian Chief who was camped in front of Mr. Paul's residence. (Julian Hawthorne, History of Washington, Volume II., pages 581-582.)
Pacific County
- Balevile (historical)
- Bay Center
- Bay Center Junction
- Bedford
- Breakers
- Brigham City (historical)
- Brooklyn
- Bruceport
- Burt
- Camp Brix (historical)
- Chinook
- Davis
- Dexter by the Sea
- East Raymond
- Elk Creek
- Firdale
- Fort Canby
- Frances
- Frankfort
- Globe
- Heather
- Hilda
- Hines
- Holcomb
- Holman
- City of Ilwaco
- Klipsan Beach
- Knappton
- Lebam
- City of Long Beach
- Loomis
- McGowan
- Megler
- Menlo
- Middle Nemah
- Moores Corner
- Nahcotta
- Nallpee
- Naselle
- Nemah
- Nemah Junction
- North Cove
- North Nemah
- Ocean Park
- Oceanside
- Oceanview
- Oysterville
- Pacific City (historical)
- Pluvius
- City of Raymond
- Rhodesia Beach
- Seahaven (historical)
- Seaport (historical)
- Seaview
- City of South Bend
- Stringtown
- Sutico
- Swem
- Tokeland
- Upper Salmon Junction
- Venice
- Willapa
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2026-09-27