Lincoln City, Oregon

Lincoln City is not really one city but several towns that voted to become one, by a narrow margin. The communities of Taft, Oceanlake, Nelscott, and Cutler City had grown up separately along this seven-mile stretch of Oregon coast during the early twentieth century. By the nineteen fifties, rapid population growth had overwhelmed each town's individual ability to build sewers, water systems, and fire protection.

Town leaders talked for years about consolidating. The vote finally passed in nineteen sixty-four. The five towns incorporated as Lincoln City on March third, nineteen sixty-five.

Cutler City's land reportedly came from Chief Charley DePoe of the Siletz tribe. The city's seven miles of beach are bounded by the D River, one of the shortest rivers in the world, which connects Devils Lake with the Pacific Ocean. For the name, organizers held a contest, and entries from local schoolchildren produced Lincoln City, chosen because picking any one of the old town names would have been too controversial.

Today Lincoln City is one of the most-visited coastal destinations in Oregon, known for its glass floats, its kite festival, and that long, unbroken stretch of public beach. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz opened Chinook Winds Casino at the north end of the city in nineteen ninety-five, overlooking the ocean. Kite festivals fill the sky above the D River Wayside every June and October.

At the twenty twenty census, Lincoln City counted nine thousand eight hundred fifteen residents.