State of Oregon - Benton County

Benton County. Bounded north by Polk, east by Linn, from which it is separated by the Willamette River, south by Lane and Douglas, and west by the Pacific Ocean. Area, 1,110 square miles. Assessed valuation of property in 1874, $2,214,379. Population 4,700.

County seat, Corvallis. Principal towns, Alsea, Elk City, Junction City, Monroe, Newport, Oneatta, Siletz, Toledo, and Yaquina. The county comprises a section of the State extending from the Willamette to the ocean, and includes the broad plains of that noble valley and the forest clad hills of the Coast Range, within its limits.

The Willamette is navigable a greater part of the year, and on the coast are several harbors, that of the Yaquina Bay being the second in importance in the State. At this point large vessels and ocean steamers can land in safety.

The valleys of the Yaquina, Mary's River, Kings, and the great valley which forms the eastern portion of the county, are exceedingly fertile, producing cereals, vegetables and fruits in abundance. The more elevated land is either well adapted to grazing or covered with forests, there being little valueless land in the county. Here are fine opportunities for settlement, the fertile soil, the genial climate, accessible localities, and a State and County free from indebtedness, invite the industrious of every nation to come and make a pleasant and prosperous home.

Officers : Erastus Holgate, County Judge; B. W. Wilson, Clerk; C. W. Fitch, District Attorney; Judson S. Palmer, Sheriff; Wallace Baldwin, Treasurer; Peter Withers, Assessor; James A. Canthorn, Surveyor; T. J. Right, Coroner; E. A. Millner, Superintendent Public Schools.

Pacific Coast Business Directory | Oregon Territory Index

Oregon Directory and Gazetteer

Source: Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1876-78, Compiled by Henry G. Langley, San Francisco, 1875.