In One Ear: No more sunshine

The Daily Morning Astorian, May 13, 1884, had this tidbit: “Robert Miller is the new postmaster of the new post office at Sunshine.”

Sunshine was a small town located across Willapa Bay from the east side of Long Island in Pacific County, in what was then Washington Territory, established in 1883.

The Chinook Observer shed some light on the long-gone town in its heyday, which evolved next to a busy sawmill, and consisted of about 20 wood-framed buildings, including the post office, houses, a few shops and a school.

A salmon cannery was built, and operated seasonally until closing in 1903. It was demolished in 1905, only the boat landing was still in use by 1908. The original sawmill closed in 1896 and was torn down in 1902. The post office closed in 1902, and the Nahcotta mail boat no longer stopped there.

Note: Even though the town was gradually shutting down, a watchman was hired and looked after the buildings before they were demolished. As a last gasp, the well-equipped school, with a landmark large flagpole, which was built when hopes of enduring business success were running high, closed in 1916.

Although the town failed, and essentially disappeared, logging operations in the area continued for decades.