Westport is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community on the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 in Clatsop County

Clatsop County, Oregon

Clatsop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast of the Pacific Ocean prior to European settlement. As of 2010, the population was 37,039. The county seat is Astoria.-Economy:The principal...

, 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...

. Westport is connected to Cathlamet, Washington

Cathlamet, Washington

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 565 people, 246 households, and 138 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,426.2 people per square mile . There were 278 housing units at an average density of 701.7 per square mile...

 across the river via the Wahkiakum County Ferry to Puget Island

Puget Island, Washington

Puget Island is a 19.365 km² island and unincorporated rural community in the Columbia River in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States. The Julia Butler Hansen Bridge carries State Route 409 across the Cathlamet Channel to connect the island to the town of Cathlamet, Washington...

. U.S. Route 30 passes through the community, connecting it to Astoria

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

 to the west and Clatskanie

Clatskanie, Oregon

Clatskanie is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the Clatskanie River, which empties into the Columbia River within the city limits. The population was 1,528 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 1,710 residents.-History:...

 to the east.

According to Oregon Geographic Names

Oregon Geographic Names

Oregon Geographic Names is an authoritative compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon. , the book is in its seventh edition and is compiled and edited by Lewis L. McArthur, who took over from his father, Lewis A. McArthur, as of the fourth edition...

, Westport is named after "Captain" John West

John West (captain)

John West was a Scottish inventor and businessman who immigrated to Canada, California and later Oregon where he operated a cannery and exported salmon to Great Britain.-Biography:Captain John West was a self-made man...

, a millwright

Millwright

A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...

 and lumberman

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 who settled in the area in the early 1850s. West was a native of Scotland, emigrated to Canada as a young man where he worked in a sawmill on the St. Lawrence river and then came Oregon via California during the gold rush of 1849. West ran a sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 and a salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 cannery

Canning

Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...

in the community. Westport post office was established in 1863, and West was its first postmaster.