Columbia County, Oregon
| Columbia County, Oregon | |
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Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens
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 Location in the U.S. state of Oregon |
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 Oregon's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | January 16, 1854 |
| Seat | St. Helens |
| Largest city | St. Helens |
| Area | |
| • Total | 688 sq mi (1,782 km2) |
| • Land | 657 sq mi (1,702 km2) |
| • Water | 31 sq mi (80 km2), 4.5% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 49,600 |
| • Density | 75/sq mi (29/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 |
| Website | www |
Columbia County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 49,351. The county seat is St. Helens. It was named for the Columbia River, which forms its eastern and northern borders.
Columbia County is part of the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Portland metropolitan area and is located in Northwest Oregon.
The Chinook and Clatskanie Native Americans inhabited this region for centuries prior to the arrival of Robert Gray, captain of the ship Columbia Rediviva, in 1792. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled and camped along the Columbia River shore in the area later known as Columbia County in late 1805 and on their return journey in early 1806.
Columbia County was created in 1854 from the northern half of Washington County. Milton served as the county seat until 1857 when it was moved to St. Helens.
Columbia County has been afflicted by numerous flooding disasters, the most recent in December 2007. Heavy rains caused the Nehalem River to escape its banks and flood the city of Vernonia and rural areas nearby. Columbia County received a presidential disaster declaration for this event.
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