For generations, Chinook Indians camped in the area that is now
Oysterville, gathering oysters from the shallow waters of Shoalwater
Bay. When tribal elder Old Klickeas introduced two young adventurers,
Robert Hamilton Espy and Isaac Alonzo Clark, to the oyster treasure, the
pioneer boom years began. Oysters were marketed in gold-rich,
oyster-hungry San Francisco, where a plateful sold for $50. Within
months, there were several hundred settlers, and in 1855, Oysterville
was chosen as the seat of Pacific County, Washington Territory.
Oysterville had many county firsts: a school, a college, a newspaper, a
post office, and a church--but never a bank. When schooners arrived to
pick up their oyster cargoes, oystermen were paid in gold coin that then
might be buried or stashed under floorboards for safekeeping. Often
there was more gold in Oysterville than in any town on the West Coast
except San Francisco. Today the peaceful vistas along the lanes and
shoreline of the village belie its tumultuous history. Oysterville was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.