Bruceport, Pacific County, Washington

Bruceport Pacific County, Washington

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."

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 28-29 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Pacific County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2017-06-17