Bruceport Pacific County, Washington
BRUCEPORT: Early Shoalwater Bay community located on the shoreline between South Bend and Bay Center, 1851-1895. Before the arrival of white settlers the site was an Indian village called Wa-Hoot-San or Hwahots. The village was sparsely populated when the crew of the schooner Robert Bruce was stranded there in 1851. The crew was preparing to haul oysters to market in San Francisco when a disgruntled cook set the schooner on fire and burned it to the keel. The resulting camp was first known as the Bruce Boys Camp. In 1851, John W. Champ, who filed a Donation Land Claim on a portion of the village site, hired Washington Hall to survey a townsite to be called Whilapi City. According to James G. Swan, the settlers voted to name the town Bruceville in 1854. The name Champ proposed for the settlement was ignored. Bruceville was the county seat of Chehalis County (renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915) from 1854-1860. A post office was established April 29, 1858, and the town name was officially changed to Bruceport. The office was closed July 11, 1893. In the 1870s Bruceport had 25 families, two hotels, two stores and a school. Oyster harvesting was the main source of income. The settlement failed by the 1890s, a victim of several seasons of poor oyster harvesting and severe shoreline erosion. An historical marker, one mile south of the townsite on Highway 101, tells the fascinating story of Bruceports beginning.
“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
Bruceport: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Bruceport
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Bruceport
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Bruceport | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Bruceport
References to Bruceport that document the origin of its place name
BRUCEPORT, a town on Willapa Harbor, Pacific County. The name comes indirectly from the famous King of Scotland. In 1850 Captain Feldsted discovered oysters in what was then known as Shoalwater Bay and shipped a quantity to San Francisco. They arrived in bad condition but Anthony Ludlum then fitted out the schooner Sea Serpent and took a cargo of the oysters in safety to San Francisco. A company was at once formed to go into the business. James G. Swan, who was on the harbor at the time, gives the names (Northwest Coast, page 63) as "Messrs. Winant, Morgan, Hanson, Milward and Foster." Hubert Howe Bancroft (Works, Volume XXXI., page 34) gives a list of six partners, three of whom are different from the Swan list, as follows: "Alexander Hanson, George G. Bartlett, Garrett, Tyron, Mark Winant, John Morgan and Frank Garretson." This company secured the schooner Robert Bruce and sailed for Willapa Harbor with Captain Terry in command of the schooner. They proceeded to load the boat with oysters but on the third day the schooner was burned to the water's edge. Elwood Evans (History of the Pacific Northwest, Volume I., page 818) says that it was reported that the cook made the crew and partners unconscious by putting laudanum in their food, after which he set fire to the schooner. An old man named McCarthy, then living on the bay, aroused and rescued the men. They were without means and built cabins on the beach. They were known as the Bruce Company and the place secured the name of Bruceport. James G. Swan's book was published in 1857. Writing about 1854 he says: "We had now grown into the dignity of a village, and, at a meeting of the settlers, it was voted to name the town Bruceville (which has since been changed to Bruceport)." The Bureau of American Ethnology (Handbook of American Indians, Volume II., page 988) says the Chinook Indians had a village there at one time, called "Wharhoots."
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