Necanicum 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 ...

Clatsop County Clatsop County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. The county seat is Astoria. The county is named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast of ...

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. It is located approximately 13 miles southeast of Seaside on

U.S. Route 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and ...

in the

Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part o ...

, next to the

Necanicum River The Necanicum River is a river on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately long. It drains a timber-producing area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range northwest of Portland. It forms the first estuary south of t ...

. Necanicum Junction is about a mile east of the site of the former post office, at the intersection of U.S. 26 and

Oregon Route 53 Oregon Route 53 is an Oregon state highway that runs through a pair of river valleys in the Oregon Coast range; those of the Necanicum River and the Nehalem River. OR 53 traverses the Necanicum Highway No. 46 of the Oregon state highwa ...

. It is served by the Seaside post office. The post office at this locale was originally named "Ahlers" after Herman Ahlers, a local resident and the first postmaster. Ahlers changed the name of the office to "Push" in 1899, because he expected the place to become an enterprising community. The name was changed to Necanicum in 1907, after the Necanicum River, and the office closed in 1916, with Ahlers still postmaster. "Necanicum" is one of many names in northwest Oregon beginning with ''ne'', which is a Native American prefix indicating a place. Necanicum is derived from ''Ne-hay-ne-hum'', the name of a Native American lodge upstream. The journal of the

Oregon Pioneer Association The Oregon Pioneer Association (originally known as the Oregon Pioneer Society), first established in October 1867, was a fraternal and lineage society and historical organization for early American settlers of the Oregon Territory. The Associat ...

gave the name as "Nekonikon" in 1887. Herman Ahlers said the name meant "a gap in the mountains". The current spelling was adopted by a decision of the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

in 1915, as the most common local usage over "Necanacum" and "Nekanakum". In 1915, Necanicum had a population of 50. As of 1990, there was a store and a café at Necanicum Junction.

References

Unincorporated communities in Clatsop County, Oregon Ghost towns in Oregon 1887 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1887 Unincorporated communities in Oregon Oregon placenames of Native American origin {{ClatsopCountyOR-geo-stub