Pacific City, Oregon
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Pacific City is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) and
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in Tillamook County,
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, United States. The population was 1,109 at the 2020 census. Pacific City is home to the Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area.


History

In 1845, Mr. Johnson, a cook on an English ship sailing along the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
, deserted and traveled down the
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...
. Establishing a land claim in Champoeg, he began removing brush and that summer set off a burn to clear debris. The Champoeg Fire got out of control and spread eastward. Unfortunately, the wind then reversed direction and strengthened, blowing the blaze around the previous burn and fanning it into the dry Coast Range, where it burned in the Yamhill basin for weeks, consuming of old growth forest – the largest such area destroyed in a single forest fire in the United States. Settlers did not live west of the Coast Range, but the small tribes of Native Americans in the area, already depleted by 80% due to malaria and other epidemics from 1830 to 1841, were driven from their lands. The Nestuggas were one such tribe, that had previously been encamped just north of Pacific City near the town of Woods. They had noticed the smoke for several weeks, but were surprised one morning as the bright flames flickered atop the crests of the surrounding hills and rushed down on them. The Nestuggas fled by canoe down the Big Nestucca River to the ocean, and took refuge on the half-mile wide bare sandspit between Nestucca Bay and the ocean. After several weeks the fires were ended by a heavy rain, but the devastation had been complete: the forests were gone, and the game found to be charred crisp or cooked in the water they had sought refuge in. Nestucca Bay was a rich fishing area, allowing the Nestuggas to survive despite the destruction of game. However, in 1854, settlers began arriving in the Tillamook Valley, and by 1876 Chief Nestugga Bill and the 200 remaining people of the small tribe were relocated to a reservation on the Salmon and Siletz River. Many early pioneers arrived via seagoing steamers, others arrived from across the mountains. The town of Woods established itself as a depot for the new arrivals and a source of supplies and trade for the settlers. In 1886 the Linewebber and Brown cannery was started to take advantage of the plentiful fish in Nestucca Bay, shipping 12,000 cans of salmon a year and providing an economic basis for the region until 1926, along with logging and dairy farming. The area also became a "vacation" destination for Oregon Trail pioneers from the Midwest, who had never seen the ocean. In 1893, Thomas Malaney platted the town of Ocean Park (now Pacific City) directly across the river from Woods. When a flood in 1894 wiped out the first lots, Malaney moved the town south to higher ground. The Sea View hotel (later renamed Edmundes Hotel) was built around 1895 to serve vacationers from the Willamette Valley. Other buildings and campgrounds were established for visitors, and Ferry Street was "paved" with wooden planks for automobiles. The town gained its modern name of Pacific City in 1909 to avoid confusion with the Washington town of Ocean Park. By 1926, overfishing from gillnetting had left the bay depleted of salmon, so commercial harvesting was stopped and fishermen switched to surf-launched dories; over time, due to commercial fishing vessels, the Dory Fleet dwindled and today only a few recreational fishermen keep the tradition alive. In the 1920s, tourism became the mainstay of the economy, lasting until the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
of the 1930s. An
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
was built to attract barnstormers and aviators, and other roads and bridges were opened.


Geography and climate

Pacific City is located along the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
adjacent to Bob Straub State Park and spans the
Nestucca River The Nestucca River flows for about through forests near the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains a timber-producing area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range west of Portland. Rising in the mountains of western Yamhi ...
with about half the city's area being behind Nestucca Bay. It is part of the
Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (2.86%) is water. The area is located above sea-level.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,027 people, 485 households, and 317 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,090 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.16%
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...
, 1.75% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 2.04% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 3.02% of the population. There were 485 households, out of which 13.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.55. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 16.1% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 17.6% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 27.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,250, and the median income for a family was $55,368. Males had a median income of $26,042 versus $26,250 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $25,819. About 8.4% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.


Infrastructure

The shore station for the National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative
Regional Scale Nodes The National Science Foundation, National Science Foundation's (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOIRegional Scale Nodes(RSN) system, component is an electro-optically cabled observatory, cabled underwater observatory that directly connects ...
underwater cabled observatory is located in Pacific City.


Telecommunications undersea cables

Four undersea telecommunications cables come ashore in Pacific City: * Hawaiki Cable, which connects Pacific City and
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
with Polynesian ashore sites in
Kapolei Kapolei () is a planned community in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States, on the island of Oʻahu. In 1977, the government designated it as the "second city" of Oʻahu, in relation to Honolulu. For statistical purposes, ...
,
Tafuna Tafuna () is a village in Tualauta County, Western District, American Samoa. It is the most populous village in American Samoa, with a population of 7,988 according to the 2020 U.S. census. Tafuna is the principal area for the development of hou ...
, Mangawhai Heads, and
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. * New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System, which connects Pacific City with East Asia ashore sites in
Toucheng Toucheng Township () is an urban township in Yilan County, Taiwan. The township includes Guishan Island and Guiluan Island in the Philippine Sea. The Senkaku Islands, known in Mandarin as the Diaoyu Islands, are claimed as part of the township ...
,
Pusan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southe ...
,
Nanhui Nanhui District (), Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Nanhwei, was a district of Shanghai until it was merged into Pudong New Area in May 2009. It had a land area of about and a coastline. The population of Nanhui was as of August ...
, Maruyama, Lingang, and Chongming.


Transportation

Pacific City is located from
U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
and is served by the
Pacific City State Airport Pacific City State Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2  km) south of the central business district of Pacific City, in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. It is owned by the Oregon Department of Aviation ...
, owned and maintained by
Oregon Department of Aviation The Oregon Department of Aviation (ODAV) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon chiefly responsible for matters relating to the continuing development of aviation as part of the state's transportation system, and the safety of ...
. Tillamook County Transportation District, with two bus stops in Pacific City, offers bus service to Tillamook.


Education

It is in the
Nestucca Valley School District 101J The Tillamook are a Native American tribe from coastal Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name "Tillamook" is a Chinook language term meaning "people of he villageNekelim (or Nehalem)", sometimes it is given as a Coast Salish term, mea ...
The county is in the
Tillamook Bay Community College Tillamook Bay Community College (TBCC) is a public community college in Tillamook, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1981, after Clatsop Community College announced it would no longer offer classes in Tillamook County. The college offers ...
district.


References


External links


Pacific City Dory Builder
Video produced by
Oregon Field Guide ''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is th ...
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Tillamook County, Oregon Census-designated places in Oregon Oregon Coast Seaside resorts in Oregon 1893 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1893 Census-designated places in Tillamook County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon Populated coastal places in Oregon