Charleston ( csz, Milukwich) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Coos County,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. Charleston is the least populated (Pop. 795 017 community in Oregon's Bay Area and is Home to a large commercial fishing fleet, it is adjacent to the ocean entrance to

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

. Charleston is the site of the

Oregon Institute of Marine Biology The Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (or OIMB) is the marine station of the University of Oregon. This marine station is located in Charleston, Oregon at the mouth of Coos Bay. Currently, OIMB is home to several permanent faculty members and a ...

and the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Charleston Lifeboat Station. Charleston was named for Charles Haskell, a

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

who filed a land claim along South Slough in 1853. South Slough is an arm of Coos Bay, which it enters near the bay's mouth on the Pacific Ocean.

Oregon Route 540 Oregon Route 540 (OR 540) is an Oregon state highway running from North Bend to Cape Arago State Park. OR 540 is known as the Cape Arago Highway No. 240 (see Oregon highways and routes). It is long and runs northeast to southwest, entirely wi ...

, which crosses the slough southwest of Barview, passes through Charleston and links it to three state parks further south along the coast: Sunset Bay, Shore Acres, and Cape Arago. Postal authorities established a post office in Charleston in 1924. The community's ZIP code is 97420.

Estuarine Research Reserve

The

South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNERR) is a National Estuarine Research Reserve located on Coos Bay Estuary, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its headquarters are in Charleston. Established in 1974, it was the first reserve in the ...

, a reserve along the Coos Bay

Estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, was established in Charleston in 1974. It was the first of 28 such reserves in the United States and the only one in Oregon.

References

Unincorporated communities in Coos County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon Populated coastal places in Oregon {{USCG-stub