Undiscovery Day

Officially passed October 1986 by Ocean Shores city council. Each year on the last Saturday in April, the citizens of Ocean Shores, Washington, celebrate “Undiscovery Day” to commemorate the night in 1792 when British explorer Capt. George Vancouver sailed past Ocean Shores without discovering it. Vancouver was en route to Nootka Sound, on what is now Vancouver Island, to settle a controversy between Spain and Great Britain, He passed the area where Ocean Shores is now located, near the mouth of Grays Harbor, at about midnight on April 27,1792.


Undiscovery Day will be observed at the entrance to a harbor that was finally discovered by an intrepid Yankee named Robert Gray. About 75 to 100 people are expected to gather at Lumpy’s Tavern from noon to 2 p.m.


At midnight they gather on the shore. Preliminary ingestions are deemed necessary before braving the elements and promptly at the stroke of 12 the intrepid celebrants wend their way down to the shore, giggling and shrieking, “Hey George, over here!” and other appropriate instructions, hoping that Vancouver's ghost will answer and explain his oversight. To date, there has never been a reply.