Oysters and Oysterville

This map shows the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State. The Pacific Ocean is to the west or left side of the map and the Columbia River separating Washington and Oregon is in the bottom portion. The body of water to the right hand side or east of the peninsula is called Willapa Bay (Will-a-Paw). Willapa Bay touts itself as the oyster capital of the world and eating fresh barbecued oysters is one reason why we came to this part of the country. Here we will take a look at oysters from the consumption side and a brief look around at a place called Oysterville which is located at the north end of the Long Beach Peninsula.

This scene can be found in the Port of Nahcotta a small oyster processing facility on the east side of the peninsula just a few miles south of Oysterville. Bailey’s Café and Deli, a fabulous eating establishment is located here in Nahcotta along with several Oyster Processing places. The mound of stuff in the back ground, behind the boat used to bring the oysters to port, are oyster shells.

Here is another collection of shells at Nahcotta. The pickup truck was a handy reference to provide perspective on the size of the oyster shell mound.

So what does one do with all these oyster shells? Here is a large grinder that is loaded with the front loader and a now large pile of ground oyster shell can be used for fertilizer or any one of numerous purposes. They also bundle the shells together and will relocate the bundles back into the tide flats to give the spat, those are baby oysters in a small format that will grow into big ones, a place to attach and grow.

We have traveled a short distance north and are now entering Oysterville. It is a national historic site and as the sign says was founded in 1854, a long time ago. It is a really beautiful, picturesque place.

Oysterville was originally the main processing location for oysters. There were several oyster processing plants located here. The growth of the industry required a port that would handle larger boats and that did not exist in Oysterville. The industry here gradually died off and the larger scale oyster efforts were performed elsewhere such as Nahcotta, which can handle larger boats.

This is the old historic school located in Oysterville. There is one small store, an oyster facility, and several homes. Many of the homes as seen here are covered in shingles.

This is just one of the beautiful homes along one of the streets. Oysterville is not very big. It is located in close proximity to Willapa Bay and does not have many facilities.

We thought this was neat to see. This is the back or west facing large window from the home in the previous picture. They have fashioned or bought a macrame hanging and placed it in the window to partially shield the interior from the sun. It looked very unique and was a wonderful, simple idea.

This is just another home along the street. The home is very nicely landscaped. I would imagine, since this is a national historic site, that they have fairly strict building codes and architectural standards.

Ok, OK this is not a real estate tour so let’s continue on with the oyster side of this posting. Here is a view of the oyster processing facility in Oysterville

The facility is called Oysterville Sea Farms – Willapa Bay Specialty Foods. They have their own oyster beds, we were told about 300 acres out in the bay. They have been around for many years. They are a small place with as mentioned earlier not much else around.

We are closer to the main building. This houses the retail store and has a beautiful deck overlooking the bay towards the back of the building.

Here is the inside of the facility. This is the retail shop portion. The oysters are brought in and cleaned in another, adjacent building.

Here are the oysters. They put them in mesh bags with varying quantities in each bag. They are sorted by size, extra small, small, medium, and large and the mesh bags are different colors depending on the size of the oyster.. We typically buy the mediums and they are $7 a dozen. The oysters that they sell here are very good, they have been well cleaned, and taste wonderful.

We had mentioned the back deck earlier. Here is the view on a beautiful day. There are places to sit where you can relax and enjoy the view. At certain times of year and at low tides you can watch the shorebirds move about in the tidal flats searching for food.

Well you shouldn’t sit out on the back deck empty handed. In addition to oysters the facility sells clams and other items and also clam chowder. Here is a bowl of their clam chowder. It had a great taste and was of a thicker variety. It was well seasoned and properly cooked; the clams were not overly done. It was exceptionally good chowder.

Finally we are to the oysters. These are back at the trailer and on the grill. We have steamed them on the grill and removed half the shell. An osyter has a somewhat flatter side and more of a cupped side. We place them cupped side down so as to retain any juices, if possible. Then after taking the flat shell side off, we added a little tapatio (like tabasco) butter, and lemon juice. They will now continue cooking until done and eaten. These, in our opinion, are wonderful.

Getting away from the oysters for one quick moment; It has been unseasonably warm here in the Long Beach Area. On May 09 it was 76 degrees no clouds and no wind. For those of you not familiar with the north west that is very warm here, right on the ocean. This Great Blue Heron appeared to be trying to cool off. He and all the locals are saying it is just too hot for here. We however enjoy this gorgeous weather.






We hope you enjoyed this brief chat about oysters and a short look around Oysterville. If you ever get to the Long Beach Peninsula be sure and come up here for a visit and some oysters. You will like this place.

Let us know if you have any comments or questions. All the best – George & Deanna