Oyster Creek
By Curt Cunningham

Oyster creek is located about 2 miles northwest of Blanchard on Chuckanut Drive. The creek begins its journey to the sea on the eastern side of Chuckanut mountain and flows for about 3 miles and empties into Puget Sound. The creek got its name from the abundance of oysters found on the tide flats near the creek.

The Oyster Creek Inn

In the 1920's, the Rockpoint Oyster Company was established on Samish Bay by E. N. Steele and J. C. Barnes. During the Great Depression, the market for fresh oysters crashed and the oyster company built a shack on Chuckanut Drive above Oyster creek where fresh oysters were sold by the plant manager Zenzabaro Maekawa to the travelers who passed by on the scenic drive. The little stand did so well that a lunch counter was added and the Rockpoint Oyster Restaurant was born. Unfortunately the Maekawa family who were Japanese were sent to an internment camp during World War II and the restaurant sat empty from 1942-1946.

Otto Amos bought the restaurant in 1946 and his wife renamed the restaurant the Oyster Bar and they coined the slogan “the oysters that we serve today slept last night in Samish Bay.” The menu consisted of deep fried oysters and a ham dish. When Blanche and William Reinstra bought the restaurant in 1954, they made major renovations and expanded the menu to include prawns, scallops, fish and chips and clam chowder.

Pat and Al Digerness bought the Oyster Bar n 1970, but sold it to Thomas Lee in 1971. Mr. Lee gave the Oyster Bar sophistication with wonderful menu and structural improvements. Mick, Cheryl and Alex August bought the restaurant in 1977 and expanded the wine cellar. Since 1987 the Oyster Bar has been owned and operated by Guy and Linda Colbert who brought new ideas from their previous restaurants in southern California.

The Oyster Bar has become a premier dining destination spot. The spectacular views of the San Juan Islands are the perfect backdrop for the stunning dishes served at candlelit tables. The wine cellar consistently wins the Best of Award of Excellence and provides a wonderful array of choices for wine lovers from around the world. The restaurant was renovated in 2000 and has a wonderful lodge flavor that compliments the surrounding water, fir trees and wildlife.

Jeff Fox remembers dining at the Oyster Bar and said the following about the restaurant; "When I was young, my parents would go to the Oyster Bar once-in-a-while. It was a mom & pop place and the food was delicious. There were 4 oyster dinners on the menu according to the amount of oysters and a pre-meal prelude. #1 dinner came with a Crab Louie, #2 came with an ice cold glass of tomato juice with Ritz crackers. I do not remember #3 but it may have not had an appetizer."

"Oysters deep fried, fresh French fries special cut, red jello with fruit and a potato roll with a pat of butter was the meal. In place of the jello you could have coleslaw. The jello was cut into a square topped with a small dab of mayonnaise with paprika. For dessert was a sugar cone shaped like a bonnet with either strawberry or raspberry ripple ice cream. Also there was baked ham for someone who did not like oysters and for a side was delicious oyster stew."

"Blanche was the lady who owned the place with her husband who had the art of deep fry down to a science. There has never been anyone who has come close to his cooking. Blanche also made a tartar sauce that has never been duplicated. You were served by table. If you walked in and 8 tables were ahead of you, then you were 9th in line. There were no other employees to my knowledge. Blanche did the salads etc. and served, bussed tables. I knew people who would go there just to have their oyster stew."

The Oyster Creek Bridge

The first bridge over Oyster creek was built in 1896 when the Waterfront Road was established as a state road between Fairhaven and Blanchard. This wooden bridge may have been located on Rock Point Road where it crosses the creek as the old wagon road ran along the shoreline for 3.5 miles from Blanchard north. At Pigeon Point the road may have climbed up and over the point on or near the present road. After traversing the hill the wagon road continued along the shoreline to just south of Clayton beach where it climbed the hill to meet the current road.

During the years 1917 and 1918 the Waterfront Road was improved under the day labor system by removing slides, widening the roadbed, surfacing with gravel, and improving drainage conditions. At Oyster creek a wooden frame bent trestle was constructed by J. R. Wood, by force account. The expenditures on this section to September 30, 1918, amounted to $9,707.13.

In 1924 the wooden bridge over Oyster creek was replaced with a concrete rigid frame T-beam bridge 86 feet long. On April 26, 1924 contract #825 was awarded to L. A. Farmer of Anacortes. Construction began on May 7, 1924 and the bridge was completed on  September 9, 1924 for a cost of $13,476.49. This structure is somewhat out of the ordinary in that, for its entire length it is on a 72 degree curve. The bridge is a four-girder tee-beam type, the beams being on the chords of the curve. The structure consists of one 32 foot 6 inch span and two 23 foot 6 inch spans and the bridge deck is 26 feet wide.