Oakville first attracted settlers as a logging town in the mid-1800s, not long after timber men from the East Coast visited the Pacific Northwest. Massive Douglas Fir trees were first logged and then pulled out of the forest by oxen dragging the logs over greased skids to nearby rivers.
According to local historian Fred Wolf, Oakville in its heyday shipped more tonnage by rail than any other American city except Chicago.
The scene of the state’s last horseback bank robbery, Oakville marks the event annually during its Independence Day Celebration, typically held the first Saturday in July. Photo by The Chronicle.
The giant trees that had covered the Chehalis River Basin were rapidly retreating by 1905 when Oakville was incorporated. Sawmills lined the creeks and logging camps were slowly replaced by small dairies and a cheese plant. Cream, milk and butter were shipped to Tacoma and Seattle on the “cream train.”
The railway ran through the narrow area between the Chehalis River and the Porter Bluffs. One train stop, in the only possible spot for such a structure in Oakville, was placed at the town’s eastern edge.
The Oakville National Bank was robbed several times in the ‘20s and ‘30s and the town holds a reenactment of such robberies around Independence Day. Usually, the real robbers were apprehended due to the bank’s close proximity at the time to other buildings like the Glover Hotel.
The last known horseback robbery in Washington state took place in Oakville, and remains unsolved. The July celebration also includes a rodeo.
The events is held on the first Saturday in July.
In September, all things zucchini are celebrated, with cooking contests, the biggest zucchini contest, a zucchini carving competition and even zucchini car races.