Bruceport is an extinct settlement in Pacific County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

History

The settlement was founded in December 1851 by the crew of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Robert Bruce'', which had burned on

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 surface area Willapa Bay is the ...

while transporting

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s. The settlement, initially named Bruceville in 1854, grew into a trading post for oysters and was settled. From 1854 to 1860, Bruceville was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Chehalis County (later Grays Harbor County) and had a population of 25 families by the 1870s. A post office called Bruceport was established in 1858, and remained in operation until 1895. The community was named after

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

, King of the Scots.

References

Unincorporated communities in Pacific County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Populated places established in 1851 1851 establishments in Oregon Territory {{PacificCountyWA-geo-stub