Linn County, Oregon

Linn County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
MSA:

Court House:

300 4th Avenue SW
Albany, OR 97321
Clerk: (541) 967-3829
Courts: (541) 967-3802

Named: Linn County was named for U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri who was the author of the Donation Land Act that gave free land to settlers in the West.

State & County QuickFacts:

History

On December 28, 1847 the Provisional Legislature created Linn County from the southern portion of Champoeg (later Marion) County. The boundaries were altered in 1851 and 1854 with the creation of Lane and Wasco Counties. The county consists of 2,297 square miles and is bounded on the north by Marion County; on the east by Deschutes and Jefferson Counties; on the south by Lane County; and on the west by Benton County. Linn County was named for U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri who was the author of the Donation Land Act that gave free land to settlers in the West.

The county seat was originally located in Calapooia (Brownsville), but in 1851 the Territorial Legislature passed an act establishing Albany as the county seat. A special election in 1856 reaffirmed Albany as the county seat. The Spaulding school in Brownsville served as the first courthouse. A new courthouse was erected in Albany in 1853 but was destroyed by fire in 1861. A third courthouse was built in 1865 and remodeled in 1890 and 1899. The present courthouse was constructed in 1940 adjacent to the earlier courthouses.

The general administration of Linn County business was placed in the county court, composed of two elected commissioners and a county judge. The county court met for the first time in December, 1849. In 1970 the county court was replaced by a board of county commissioners. Current county officials include three commissioners, district attorney, assessor, clerk, sheriff, surveyor, and treasurer.

The population in 2000 was 103,069. This represented an increase of 12.98% over 1990.

The climate and soil conditions provide one of Oregon's most diversified agriculture areas, allowing a wide variety of specialty crops and leading the nation in the production of common and perennial ryegrass. Linn County is also home to major producers of rare and primary metals, processed food, manufactured homes and motor homes as well as the traditional logging and wood products industries.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities:

Insert City Here

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of our country!”

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.”

Penn Foster High School

Custom Search