Nahcotta is an unincorporated community in Pacific County, in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state of Washington. It is located on Willapa Bay

Willapa Bay

Willapa Bay is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of water surface Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the United States Pacific coast...

, on the eastern coast of the Long Beach Peninsula

Long Beach Peninsula

The Long Beach Peninsula is an arm of land in western Washington state. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the south by the Columbia River, and the east by Willapa Bay...

.

History

Nahcotta was first settled in 1890 by J.A. Morehead and named for a local Indian chief. Nahcotta was once the northern terminal of the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company

Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company

The Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company operated a narrow gauge railroad ran for over forty years from the bar of the Columbia River up the Long Beach Peninsula to Nahcotta, Washington, on Willapa Bay. The line ran entirely in Pacific County, Washington, and had no connection to any outside rail...

, a narrow gauge railroad which ran from Ilwaco

Ilwaco, Washington

Ilwaco is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 950 at the 2000 census and decreased to 936 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, and later from Megler, in southwestern Pacific County, up the Long Beach Peninsula

Long Beach Peninsula

The Long Beach Peninsula is an arm of land in western Washington state. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the south by the Columbia River, and the east by Willapa Bay...

 to Nahcotta and back, once a day. The railroad was in operation from 1889 to 1930.

Photographs

• Passenger train departing from Nahcotta dock, 1910
• Razor clam cannery, 1916
• Oyster beds in Willapa Bay, circa 1900
• Oystering in Willapa Bay circa 1940

See also

• Willapa Bay
  Willapa Bay
  Willapa Bay is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of water surface Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the United States Pacific coast...
  
  
• Steamboats of Willapa Bay
  Steamboats of Willapa Bay
  Willapa Bay is a large shallow body of water near the Pacific Ocean in southwestern Washington. For a number of years before modern roads were built in Pacific County, Washington, the bay was used as the means of travel around the county, by powered and unpowered craft. This article discusses...
  
  
• Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company
  Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company
  The Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company operated a narrow gauge railroad ran for over forty years from the bar of the Columbia River up the Long Beach Peninsula to Nahcotta, Washington, on Willapa Bay. The line ran entirely in Pacific County, Washington, and had no connection to any outside rail...
  
  

Further reading

• Greene, Trecia R.; Portrait of Peninsula Woman; Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2006. Portraits of Nahcotta women published in the Long Beach Peninsula's Chinook Observer between September 2001 and June 2005.