Westport is an

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 ...

and

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 ...

on 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 ...

in Clatsop 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. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 321. Westport is connected to

Cathlamet, Washington Cathlamet is a town located along the Washington State Route 4, Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, Wahkiakum County, Washington (state), Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 560 at the 2020 ...

, across the river via the Wahkiakum County ferry to

Puget Island Puget Island is a 7.5 sq mi(4,785 acre; 19.365 km) island and Census-designated place (CDP) in the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States. The island was named for Peter Puget, a lieutenant in the Vancouver Expeditio ...

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

passes through the community, connecting it to Astoria to the west and Clatskanie to the east. Westport is named after "Captain" John West, a

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

and

lumberman Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks

who settled in the area in the early 1850s. West was a native of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

as a young man where he worked in a sawmill on the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

and then came to Oregon via

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

during the

gold rush of 1849 The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the Uni ...

. West ran a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and a

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although unde ...

in the community. The Westport post office was established in 1863 with West as its first postmaster.

Demographics

Education

It is in the

Clatskanie School District 6J The Clatskanie School District (6J) is a two-school public school district in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It serves the city of Clatskanie and the surrounding area. Within Columbia County, it includes Clatskanie. Within Clatsop Co ...

. Clatsop County is in the boundary of

Clatsop Community College Clatsop Community College (CCC) is a public community college with facilities in Astoria and Seaside, Oregon. The college's service area includes Clatsop County, portions of Columbia and Tillamook counties and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties ...

. The Westport School won the

OSAA The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) is a non-profit, board-governed organization that regulates high school athletics and competitive activities via athletic conferences in the U.S. state of Oregon, providing equitable competition a ...

"Class B" Boy's State High School Basketball Championship in 1941, and t he "Class B 6-Man" State High School Football Championships in 1947 and 1949. The school was closed in 1952 and students in Westport now attend

Clatskanie Middle/High School Clatskanie Middle/High School is a public school in Clatskanie, Oregon, United States that serves both middle school- and high school-age students. It is a part of the Clatskanie School District. The district's boundary includes Clatskanie in ...

about to the east in Clatskanie.

References

Unincorporated communities in Clatsop County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon Census-designated places in Clatsop County, Oregon Census-designated places in Oregon 1863 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1863 Oregon populated places on the Columbia River {{ClatsopCountyOR-geo-stub