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Bay Center

A community on Goose Point where the Palix River enters Willapa Bay.

With its large oyster cannery and shell-crushing plant, this was where the first commercial harvesting of oysters on the Pacific Coast began between 1849 and 1851 at Shoalwater Bay, now known as Willapa Harbor, widely known for its oyster culture.

The settlement’s first name was Palix. In 1875, it was changed to the present name by Mrs. Leonard Rhoades because the site is the middle of the landward side of Willapa Bay. Around the turn of the century there were so many churches on the point that residents referred to the town as either New Jerusalem or Saints Rest.

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