West Linn, Oregon
Encyclopedia
West Linn is a city in Clackamas County
, Oregon
, United States
. Now a prosperous southern suburb of Portland
, West Linn has a history of early development
, prompted by the opportunity to harvest energy from nearby Willamette Falls
. It was named after Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
, who had advocated the American occupation of Oregon as a counterclaim to the British. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 22,261. The 2006 estimate is 24,180 residents.
arrived in 1839—before the Champoeg Meetings
—having been the senior member of the first attempt to create an American state in Oregon, the Peoria Party
. His title stems from his military service in the War of 1812
. Sometime after journeying around the Willamette Valley
and Columbia Basin, Moore bought title to approx. 1000 acres (404.7 ha) on the west side of Willamette Falls
, across the Willamette River
from Oregon City
, from a local Native American
chief, on which he platted a town he called "Robin's Nest" in early 1843. He also filed a provisional claim with the then government of the Oregon Country
, not knowing if his unique transaction would be honored by the eventual governing laws. The later Territorial Legislature of Oregon
voted to rename it Linn City
on December 22, 1845 as a memorial to Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn after whom Linn County
is also named. Dr. Linn was a neighbor and family friend of the Moores from their time as settlers in the early Missouri Territory
.
For many years Linn City was an intense political and commercial rival to the adjacent town of Oregon City, but it suffered a series of natural and man-made setbacks. Moore's death was in September 1857. A major fire then a flood
put an end to the pioneer settlement in 1861, dispersing many of the surviving family members throughout the Pacific Northwest
. Decades later, however, the seminal village site was redeveloped as a locked canal and industrial complex.
, West Linn has a total area of 7.9 square miles (20.5 km²), of which 7.4 square miles (19.2 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (6.57%) is water. The city is located between the Willamette
and Tualatin
rivers; it includes the former townsites/developments of Bolton, Multnomah City, Sunset City, and West Oregon City.
The Nature Conservancy
maintains the Camassia Natural Area in central West Linn. The 26 acres (10.5 ha)-area is located on a rocky plateau exposed by the Bretz Floods and now named after the camas
which bloom there in spring; it hosts about 300 other species, including the white rock larkspur
, a species located in only a half dozen other places in the world. It supports Oregon white oak-madrone woodlands, a stand of quaking aspen, wet meadows, ponds, and vernal pool
s.
of 2000, there were 22,261 people, 8,161 households, and 6,275 families residing in the city. The population density
was 3,013.7 people per square mile (1,163.1/km²). There were 8,697 housing units at an average density of 1,177.4 per square mile (454.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.32% White, 2.91% Asian, 0.54% African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races
, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.87% of the population.
There were 8,161 households out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples
living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $72,010, and the median income for a family was $83,252 (These figures had risen to $94,844 and $108,821 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $61,458 versus $38,733 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $34,671. About 2.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.
.
Clackamas County, Oregon
Clackamas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after the Native Americans living in the area, the Clackamas Indians, who were part of the Chinookan people. As of 2010, the population was 375,992...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Now a prosperous southern suburb of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, West Linn has a history of early development
Linn City, Oregon
Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:...
, prompted by the opportunity to harvest energy from nearby Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
. It was named after Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Ste. Genevieve is a city in and the county seat of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, United States. The population was 11,654 at the 2000 census...
, who had advocated the American occupation of Oregon as a counterclaim to the British. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 22,261. The 2006 estimate is 24,180 residents.
19th century
Major Robert MooreRobert Moore (Oregon pioneer)
Robert Moore was an American politician and pioneer in the Oregon Country. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the War of 1812, he also participated in the early movements to form a government in Oregon Country and founded Linn City, Oregon...
arrived in 1839—before the Champoeg Meetings
Champoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...
—having been the senior member of the first attempt to create an American state in Oregon, the Peoria Party
Peoria Party
The Peoria Party was a group of men from Peoria in the U.S. state of Illinois, who set out on May 1, 1839 with the intention to colonize the Oregon Country on behalf of the United States and drive out the English fur trading companies operating there...
. His title stems from his military service in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Sometime after journeying around the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
and Columbia Basin, Moore bought title to approx. 1000 acres (404.7 ha) on the west side of Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
, across the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
from Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
, from a local Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
chief, on which he platted a town he called "Robin's Nest" in early 1843. He also filed a provisional claim with the then government of the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
, not knowing if his unique transaction would be honored by the eventual governing laws. The later Territorial Legislature of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
voted to rename it Linn City
Linn City, Oregon
Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:...
on December 22, 1845 as a memorial to Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn after whom Linn County
Linn County, Oregon
Linn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. By the 2010 US census the population of Linn county was 116,672 showing a 13.2% growth since the 2000 census...
is also named. Dr. Linn was a neighbor and family friend of the Moores from their time as settlers in the early Missouri Territory
Missouri Territory
The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812 until August 10, 1821, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Missouri.-History:...
.
For many years Linn City was an intense political and commercial rival to the adjacent town of Oregon City, but it suffered a series of natural and man-made setbacks. Moore's death was in September 1857. A major fire then a flood
Great Flood of 1862
The Great Flood of 1862 or Noachian Deluge was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains that began in Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862...
put an end to the pioneer settlement in 1861, dispersing many of the surviving family members throughout the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. Decades later, however, the seminal village site was redeveloped as a locked canal and industrial complex.
20th century
West Linn was incorporated in 1913 and merged with the adjacent town of Willamette in 1916, which had incorporated five years earlier.21st century
A number of embezzlement cases were discovered by the new administration and council in 2006, with the largest involving the embezzlement of $1.4 million by the finance manager, who was on a first-name basis with the staff of the Spirit Mountain Casino, about 50 miles (80.5 km) away. Although Oregon law requires that municipal accounts be audited yearly, the City of West Linn had discontinued these audits in 2002. Regular audits were reinstated in 2006, after the completion of a forensic auditor's investigation into the missing funds.Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, West Linn has a total area of 7.9 square miles (20.5 km²), of which 7.4 square miles (19.2 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (6.57%) is water. The city is located between the Willamette
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
and Tualatin
Tualatin River
The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River located in Oregon in the United States. The river is approximately long, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley...
rivers; it includes the former townsites/developments of Bolton, Multnomah City, Sunset City, and West Oregon City.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
maintains the Camassia Natural Area in central West Linn. The 26 acres (10.5 ha)-area is located on a rocky plateau exposed by the Bretz Floods and now named after the camas
Camassia
Camassia is a genus of six species native to western North America, from southern British Columbia to northern California, and east to Utah, Wyoming and Montana...
which bloom there in spring; it hosts about 300 other species, including the white rock larkspur
Delphinium
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, larkspur, is shared with the closely related genus Consolida...
, a species located in only a half dozen other places in the world. It supports Oregon white oak-madrone woodlands, a stand of quaking aspen, wet meadows, ponds, and vernal pool
Vernal pool
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water. They are usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species...
s.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 22,261 people, 8,161 households, and 6,275 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,013.7 people per square mile (1,163.1/km²). There were 8,697 housing units at an average density of 1,177.4 per square mile (454.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.32% White, 2.91% Asian, 0.54% African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.87% of the population.
There were 8,161 households out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $72,010, and the median income for a family was $83,252 (These figures had risen to $94,844 and $108,821 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $61,458 versus $38,733 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $34,671. About 2.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The city operates a public library that is part of the Library Information Network of Clackamas CountyLibrary Information Network of Clackamas County
Libraries in Clackamas County is a consortium of the public libraries of Clackamas County, Oregon. It was established in 1977 when the first county-wide funding levy was approved by county voters...
.
Notable people
- Steve BlakeSteve BlakeSteven Hanson "Steve" Blake is an American professional basketball point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. Previously, he played for the Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers.-High school:Blake spent his freshman and sophomore year...
, basketball player for the Los Angeles LakersLos Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, twice a former player for the Portland Trail Blazers - Darlene HooleyDarlene HooleyDarlene Kay Olson Hooley is a former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's . A native of North Dakota, she spent eight years teaching high school before entering politics when she was elected to the West Linn, Oregon city council in 1975...
, United States Congresswoman - Nate McMillanNate McMillanNathaniel "Nate" McMillan is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers...
, head coach of the Portland Trail BlazersPortland Trail BlazersThe Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the... - Cade McNownCade McNownCade B. McNown is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League...
, football player - Robert MooreRobert Moore (Oregon pioneer)Robert Moore was an American politician and pioneer in the Oregon Country. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the War of 1812, he also participated in the early movements to form a government in Oregon Country and founded Linn City, Oregon...
, founder of Linn CityLinn City, OregonLinn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:... - Brandon RoyBrandon RoyBrandon Dawayne Roy is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. He was selected sixth in the 2006 NBA Draft, having completed four years playing for the Washington Huskies. In 2009, he served as the team's co-captain, along...
, basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers - Chael SonnenChael SonnenChael Patrick Sonnen is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a two-time University Greco national champion as well as the 85.0 kg silver medalist at...
, mixed martial artist - Mitch Williams, baseball player
- Monty Williams, former NBA player, former assistant coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, head coach of the New Orleans Hornets
External links
- City of West Linn (official website)
- West Linn listing in the Oregon Blue BookOregon Blue BookThe Oregon Blue Book is the official directory and fact book for the U.S. state of Oregon copyrighted by the Oregon Secretary of State and published by the Office of the Secretary's Archives Division. As Governor Ted Kulongoski notes in his introduction for the 2005–2006 edition, it "provides...
- West Linn Chamber of Commerce
- West Linn Arts Commission