NAHCOTTA
OYSTER PARADISE
71 Years serving visitors
in Long Beach
LARGE GRASSY SITES • GROUP MEETING HALL
WALK TO DOWNTOWN • STROLL TO THE BEACH
WiFi & Cable TV Access
For reservations:
PO Box 296, Long Beach, WA 98631
360-642-2711
PACIFIC AVENUE, LONG BEACH, WA
AT 14TH STREET NORTH
www.driftwood-rvpark.net
A little rind of ice lines the Nahcotta shore on Willapa Bay when drone photographer Bob Duke captured this
photo in early 2017. Nahcotta, Bay Center and South Bend offer close-up looks at Willapa Bay's important oyster
industry. — BOB DUKE PHOTO
N
ahcotta is a great place to experience
the traditions of Willapa Bay, centered
on oysters, clamming and other pure
and healthy “fishy” business.
A stroll around Nahcotta, looking
at the boats and oyster processing
equipment, is a great appetizer before
sampling some fresh local seafood.
Wandering around Nahcotta these days, one
finds a tiny village rich in tradition and history,
but little evidence of the battles that nearly tore
the community in half more than a century ago.
If the birth of Nahcotta came about with its
platting and the struggle surrounding it in 1889,
its conception may have taken place decades
before when bands of Chinook Indians —
among them Chief Nahcati, for whom the
village was named — lived along the western
shore of what was then Shoalwater Bay.
Nahcati’s camp was said to have been nestled
near Paul’s Slough just south of the present
Nahcotta mooring basin.
Here the Indians found an abundance of
fresh water, dry land, ample clams, oysters and
salmon from the Shoalwater, and wild game in
the forests. The settlements were well out of
reach of the cold winter winds off the Pacific
and far from the noise of pounding surf.
By 1888, the first five miles of narrow-gauge
railroad was laid northward from the docks at
Ilwaco, and by 1889 it reached Nahcotta. Here
the tracks turned directly east and shot out
over the bayshore on pilings to the deep
Shoalwater channel, separating the
community north from south.
Ilwaco cannery owner B.A. Seaborg platted
the town of Sealand on the north side of the
tracks, while raiload owner Lewis Loomis took
ownership of the Nahcotta townsite to the south.
Both worked hard to reach their goals. The
Sealand Hotel and the first post office rose on the
north side, a general store and another hotel on
the south. In fact, the town had almost two of
everything — two hotels, two saloons, two meat
markets — and only Loomis and Seaborg
seemed to care.
Despite the dispute between the two men, the
community as a whole prospered. Oysters and
other seafood was loaded on trains for shipment
to Ilwaco, from where it was forwarded to San
Francisco and other points to the south.
Loomis won an eventual lawsuit, but the
town’s luck was about to run out — for a few
decades at least. In 1915, a chimney fire got out
of hand and a strong southeast wind quickly
spread the blaze throughout the business district.
From that point on, the center of business
on the Peninsula’s north end shifted largely to
Ocean Park, Nahcotta’s other sister village to
the west.
South Bend Come & Play on Labor Day
Visit
WILLAPA HARBOR
Kayaq Day - May 21
Willapa Festival - August 4 - 6
Come and Play on Labor Day - September 1 - 4
See a complete listing of events and attractions on
our Facebook page or www.willapaharbor.org
360-942-5419
PAID FOR BY THE PACIFIC COUNTY LOGGING TAX DOLLARS
DISCOVERY COAST 2017-18 • www.chinookobserver.com • 19