Pacific City, Oregon

Pacific City, Oregon
Census-designated place (CDP) & unincorporated community
Aerial view of Pacific City
Location of Pacific City, Oregon
Coordinates: 45°12′N 123°58′W / 45.200°N 123.967°W / 45.200; -123.967Coordinates: 45°12′N 123°58′W / 45.200°N 123.967°W / 45.200; -123.967
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Tillamook
Area
• Total	3.8 sq mi (10.0 km2)
• Land	3.7 sq mi (9.7 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation	13 ft (4 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	1,027
• Density	274.7/sq mi (106.1/km2)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	97135
Area code(s)	503
FIPS code	41-56150
GNIS feature ID	1136609

Pacific City is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,027 at the 2000 census. Pacific City's main attraction is the Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area.

In 1845, Mr. Johnson, a cook on an English ship sailing along the Columbia River, deserted and traveled down the Willamette Valley. Establishing a land claim in Champoeg, he began removing brush and that summer set off a burn to clear debris. The Champoeg Fire got out of control and spread eastward. Unfortunately, the wind then reversed direction and strengthened, blowing the blaze around the previous burn and fanning it into the dry Coast Range, where it burned in the Yamhill basin for weeks, consuming 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km²) of old growth forest - the largest such area destroyed in a single forest fire in the United States. Settlers did not live west of the Coast Range, but the small tribes of Native Americans in the area, already depleted by 80% due to malaria and other epidemics from 1830–1841, were driven from their lands.

The Nestuggas were one such tribe, that had previously been encamped just north of Pacific City near the town of Woods. They had noticed the smoke for several weeks, but were surprised one morning as the bright flames flickered atop the crests of the surrounding hills and rushed down on them. The Nestuggas fled by canoe down the Big Nestucca River to the ocean, and took refuge on the half-mile wide bare sandspit between Nestucca Bay and the ocean. After several weeks the fires were ended by a heavy rain, but the devastation had been complete: The forests were gone, and the game found to be charred crisp or cooked in the water they had sought refuge in.

Nestucca Bay was a rich fishing area, allowing the Nestuggas to survive despite the destruction of game. However, beginning in 1854 settlers began arriving in the Tillamook Valley, and by 1876 Chief Nestugga Bill and the 200 remaining people of the small tribe were relocated to a reservation on the Salmon and Siletz River.

Many early pioneers arrived via seagoing steamers, others arrived from across the mountains. The town of Woods established itself as a depot for the new arrivals and a source of supplies and trade for the settlers. In 1886 the Linewebber and Brown cannery was started to take advantage of the plentiful fish in Nestucca Bay, shipping 12,000 cans of salmon a year and providing an economic basis until 1926 for the region, along with logging and dairy farming. The area also became a "vacation" destination for Oregon Trail pioneers from the midwest, who had never seen the ocean.