Oysterville, Washington

The village of Oysterville became famous for its fresh oysters thanks to Chief Nahcati who introduced the town’s founders, R.H. Espy and I.A. Clark in 1854. The rich oyster beds of Willapa Bay grew the town to became a major competitor with other oyster companies. By 1880, the long await Clamshell Railroad ended at Nachotta and native oysters became to become scarce. Today, the 80-acre of Oysterville is on the National Historic Register and the original one-room schoolhouse and church are still in use for community events as well as the Oysterville Post Office is oldest continuously operating Post Office in Washington.


We took a short walk thru the town, you can get a walking map by searching for "Oysterville Walking Tour" and start at the lovely church and go from there. Although the place seems like a ghost town, the walk takes you back in time and provides a peaceful sanctuary.

The Oysterville Church – 1892
Built at a cost of $1500, the church was a gift to the Baptist denomination by R. H. Espy. No regular services have been held here since the mid-1930s. In 1980 the church was rededicated as an ecumenical house of worship. Music Vesper services conducted by ministers from various churches on the peninsula are held Sundays from mid-June through Labor Day Weekend. The church is open everyday, don't forget to sign the guestbook!


The Meadow
In the meadow across from the Red Cottage a stone bench has been placed so that visitors might sit and view the bay. On it, inscribed in Willard Espy's hand, is a line from his book, The Road to Grandpa's House.


Ned Osborne House - 1873
Osborne arrived in Oysterville in 1866 aboard the schooner Sailor Boy along with his good friend and neighbor, Charles Nelson. He began building this house for his bride-to-be, continuing to work on it even though she jilted him before the wedding date. When she married another, however, Osborne stopped building and never completed the upstairs bedrooms. He lived a bachelor all his life in this house.


Charles Nelson House - 1873
Like his next door neighbor, Nelson was born in Kalmar, Sweden. The two sailed together as young men, eventually settling in Oysterville. Mrs. Nelson's lovely garden featured old-fashioned flowers and paths made of sparkling white, crushed native oyster shell. Many Nelson descendents live in the area.


W. D. Taylor House 1870
This house was constructed by early Loomis Stage Line driver, W. D. Taylor, who later built the Taylor Hotel in Ocean Park. Behind the house are the remains of later owner Tommy Nelson's commercial oyster smoking business which operated from the 1930s to the mid-1950s.


Holway House - 1949
Ted and Virginia Holway lived in the house with their five children. Ted was instrumental in bringing Japanese Oysters to Willlapa Bay. With Glen Hecks and Troy Kemmer, Ted founded Northern Oyster Company, now called Oysterville Sea Farms continues in the third generation.


The Cannery - 1940
The Northern Oyster Company, begun in the 1930s by Ted Holway, Glenn Heckes, and Roy Kemmer, operated as a cannery until 1967. Now it is the home of Oysterville Sea Farms, selling fresh oysters and other local products. Though no longer a cannery, it is the only structure remaining in Oysterville that gives testimony to the settlement's original reason for being. Be sure to pick up some fresh oysters and they have very yummy cereal too.



Oysterville Schoolhouse – 1907
This is the third and last school in Oysterville and was used by Pacific County School District #1 until consolidation in 1957. The first school was a prefabricated building of “red wood” made in California and shipped aboard one of the oyster schooners in 1863. The booming community soon outgrew the “little red schoolhouse” and in 1874 a two-story building was built on this site, serving the community until it burned down in 1905.


The Oysterville Store & Post Office – 1919
The Oysterville Post Office has operated in Oysterville since 1858 and is the oldest continuously run Post Office under the same name in Washington. It has been in its present location since 1919 when Bert and Minnie Andrews began the Oysterville Store.


Courthouse Sign
This wooden plaque was placed on July 4, 1976 during Oysterville's bicentennial celebration when the village was granted its National Historic District status. It marks the site of the old Pacific County Courthouse, the first tax-financed building constructed in the county.