Oysterville Pacific County, Washington
OYSTERVILLE: Early Shoalwater Bay settlement and former county seat of Pacific County (1855-93) at the north end of Sandridge Road (Territorial Road). Before the arrival of white settlers Oysterville was the site of an old Indian village. The Indian name for the site is Tsako-Te-Hahsh-Eetl (land of the red-topped grass). John Douglas, who filed a nearby Donation Land Claim in 1854, was one of the earliest settlers on Shoalwater Bay. The town of Oysterville was co-founded by Robert H. Espy and Isaac A. Clark in 1854. Chief Nahcati (there are several variations for the spelling of his name), who was the leader of the tribe living at Oysterville, told them of the abundance of oysters to be found near his village. Espy and Clark harvested the shellfish for shipment to San Francisco, where oysters were literally worth their weight in gold. It wasnt long before they were joined by others and the settlement became a town. An election moved the county seat from J. D. Holmans schoolhouse on Baker Bay to Oysterville in 1855. Another election in 1892 favored moving the county seat to South Bend. Rowdy South Bend residents, impatient with recalcitrant county commissioners, kidnapped courthouse records and moved everything to the other side of the bay in 1893. Oysterville slipped into a long sleep for several decades but was reborn in 1976 when it was declared an historic district and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“A Name for Every Place Around Pacific County, from A to Z.” Chinook Observer, 13 May 2013, https://chinookobserver.com/2013/05/13/a-name-for-every-place-around-pacific-county-from-a-to-z/.
Mapped Location
Oysterville: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Oysterville
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Oysterville
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Oysterville | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Oysterville
References to Oysterville that document the origin of its place name
OYSTERVILLE, a town on the west shore of Willapa Bay, in the west central part of Pacific County, formerly the county seat. Isaac Alonzo Clark and R. H. Espey settled there in the summer of 1854, Mr. Clark taking up a donation land claim adjacent to a large bed of native oysters. He platted and named the town of Oysterville. (Julian Hawthorne: History of Washington, Volume II., pages 530-533).
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