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Lincoln County, Oregon facts for kids

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Lincoln County
Lincoln County Courthouse in Newport
Lincoln County Courthouse in Newport
Map of Oregon highlighting Lincoln County
Location within the U.S. state of Oregon
Map of the United States highlighting Oregon
Oregon's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Oregon
Founded February 20, 1893
Seat Newport
Largest city Newport
Area
 • Total 1,194 sq mi (3,090 km2)
 • Land 980 sq mi (2,500 km2)
 • Water 214 sq mi (550 km2)  18%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 50,395
 • Estimate 
(2021)
50,862 Increase
 • Density 47/sq mi (18/km2)
Time zone UTC−8 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−7 (PDT)
Congressional district 5th

Lincoln County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,395. The county seat is Newport. The county is named for Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States.

Lincoln County includes the Newport, Oregon Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Lincoln County was created by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on February 20, 1893, from the western portion of Benton and Polk counties. The county adjusted its boundaries in 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, and 1949.

At the time of the county's creation, Toledo was picked as the temporary county seat. In 1896 it was chosen as the permanent county seat. Three elections were held to determine if the county seat should be moved from Toledo to Newport. Twice these votes failed—in 1928 and 1938. In 1954, however, the vote went in Newport's favor. While Toledo has remained the industrial hub of Lincoln County, the city has never regained the position it once had.

Like Tillamook County to the north, for the first decades of its existence Lincoln County was isolated from the rest of the state. This was solved with the construction of U.S. Route 101 (completed in 1925), and the Salmon River Highway (completed in 1930). In 1936, as one of many federally funded construction projects, bridges were constructed across the bays at Waldport, Newport, and Siletz, eliminating the ferries needed to cross these bays.

The northern part of Lincoln County includes the Siletz Reservation, created by treaty in 1855. The reservation was open to non-Indian settlement between 1895 and 1925. The Siletz's tribal status was terminated by the federal government in 1954, but became the first Oregon tribe to have their tribal status reinstated in 1977. The current reservation totals 3,666 acres (14.84 km2).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,194 square miles (3,090 km2), of which 980 square miles (2,500 km2) is land and 214 square miles (550 km2) (18%) is water.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1900 3,575
1910 5,587 56.3%
1920 6,084 8.9%
1930 9,903 62.8%
1940 14,549 46.9%
1950 21,308 46.5%
1960 24,635 15.6%
1970 25,755 4.5%
1980 35,264 36.9%
1990 38,889 10.3%
2000 44,479 14.4%
2010 46,034 3.5%
2020 50,395 9.5%
2021 (est.) 50,862 10.5%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2020

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 46,034 people, 20,550 households, and 12,372 families living in the county. The population density was 47.0 inhabitants per square mile (18.1/km2). There were 30,610 housing units at an average density of 31.2 per square mile (12.0/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 87.7% white, 3.5% American Indian, 1.1% Asian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 3.4% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.5% were German, 22.0% were English, 14.6% were Irish, and 4.6% were American.

Of the 20,550 households, 21.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.8% were non-families, and 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.70. The median age was 49.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,738 and the median income for a family was $52,730. Males had a median income of $42,416 versus $31,690 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,354. About 11.7% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Fishing Rock OR
Lincoln Beach, Oregon, Fishing Rock with Rabbit Rock in background

Cities

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Economy

Principal industries of the county are travel (primarily tourism), trade, health services and construction. Paper manufacturing and fishing are still important although they contribute proportionally less to the county's employment than they used to. Newport is one of the two major fishing ports of Oregon (along with Astoria) that ranks in the top twenty of fishing ports in the U.S. Its port averaged 105 million pounds (48,000 t) of fish landed in 1997–2000. Newport is home of Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center, as well as the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and their fleet of ocean-going vessels.

Many of the other communities in Lincoln county depend on tourism as their principal source of income. The county's average nonfarm employment was 18,820 in 2007.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Lincoln (Oregón) para niños

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