Division Street

Division Street is the most northerly of the grassy roads leading to the bay here in Oysterville — the streets we just refer to as “the lanes.”  Division Street doesn’t quite divide the town into ‘north’ and ‘south’ nor does it quite differentiate the
Gilbert Stevens Addition from the Isaac Clark Claim.  Until recently, exactly what Division Street divides has been uncertain.  What is clear is that it is a historic designation and it is a public right-of-way.

Know all men that Gilbert Stevens have [sic] and by these presents [sic] to dedicate to the public use and benefit the streets of this Plat to the public use the same forever. In prence [sic] of Andrew Wirt, Edward Dexter. Territory of Washington, County of Pacific, On this 24th day of October AD 1884…

Map of Historic Oysterville

This information is recorded on the 1886 plat map of the “Stevens Addition” in Oysterville. The dedicated streets begin at the north with Division Street (adjacent to the R.H. Espy property) and continue south to Nelson Street (vacated in the 1960s when the County continued Sandridge as far as Oysterville Road.

Some years back, Gilbert Stevens’ granddaughter Sedoris told me: “My mother always said her father, Gilbert Stevens, bought half of Oysterville from Mr. Clark.” The half that he bought, known as the ‘Stevens Addition to Oysterville’, was the southern portion of Clark’s donation land claim. Stevens apparently purchased it in 1860 or 1861, though it was not recorded until “May 5, 1886 at 1:00 P.M. by E. B. Wood, Auditor and Recorder of Pacific County, Washington Territory” according to a notation on the map, itself.

Old Sign

Subsequent to buying the land Stevens platted this “Southern Addition” and Clark platted the northern portion of Oysterville which he still owned and which is even now referred to as “Clark’s Land Claim.” A decade or so later Gilbert Stevens donated several of his lots “for school purposes” — lots upon which the historic Oysterville School still stands.

It seems logical that Division Street referred to the fact that Isaac Clark’s original land grant was now divided between himself and Gilbert Stevens, but Gilbert’s plat map doesn’t quite bear that out.  Division Street does not mark the boundary between their properties — it’s at least a lot off the mark.

Nowadays, a case might be made for Division Street having a different meaning. All the commercial properties in Oysterville happen to be north of Division Street. Oysterville Store, Oysterville Sea Farms, the Oysterville Guest House and (as of today) the Stoner House are the only commercial properties recognized in the otherwise R-1 (Rural Residential) designation of Oysterville. And all are well north of Division Street. Clark, a storekeeper, would have been pleased.

Stoner House circa 1994

However, I doubt that such a ‘division’ will continue. Now that most properties in Oysterville are part-time residences for absentee owners, I have no doubt that there will be additional conversions to vacation rental usage throughout the village. Time will tell how or if the character of Oysterville will change if short term vacation rental homes begin to outnumber the rest of us.

Will there come a night when strangers outnumber residents in the bedrooms of Oysterville? Actually, that could happen any time now – whenever the Oysterville Guest House and the Stoner House each are at their capacity of six. Stay tuned…