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Oregon Counties

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Oregon Counties

There are 36 counties in the state of Oregon. The Oregon Constitution does not explicitly provide for county seats.

Marion County, Oregon

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

County Seat: Salem
Year Organized: 1843
Square Miles: 1,185

Court House:

555 Court Streetn NE
County Courthouse
Salem, OR 97309-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Champoeg District was redesignated a county in 1845 and renamed Marion County in 1849 after General Francis Marion, a Revolutionary War hero.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Marion County, originally named Champooick District (later Champoeg), was created on July 5, 1843, by the Provisional Legislature. Champoeg District stretched southward to the California border and eastward to the Rocky Mountains. The area, however, was soon reduced with the creation of Wasco, Linn, Polk, and other counties. Marion County's present geographical boundaries, established in 1856, are the Willamette River and Butte Creek on the north, the Cascade Range on the east, the Santiam River and North Fork of the Santiam on the south, and the Willamette River on the west.

The county shares political borders with Clackamas, Yamhill, Polk, and Linn Counties. It contains 1,194 square miles. Champoeg District was redesignated a county in 1845 and renamed Marion County in 1849 after General Francis Marion, a Revolutionary War hero. That same year Salem was designated the county seat. The territorial capital was moved from Oregon City to Salem in 1852. The ensuing controversy over the location of the capital was settled in 1864 when Salem was confirmed as the state capital.

Salem has had three county courthouses, all located on the same site. The first courthouse was completed in 1854 and replaced in 1873. During the 1930s and 1940s efforts to move the 1873 building and preserve it as a museum failed and it was demolished in 1952. The third and present courthouse was completed in 1954. Arson fires in 2005 cause severe damage to the courthouse, causing a long closure before renovations were completed. The Courthouse Square Building next to the courthouse was constructed in 2000 and houses many Marion County administrative offices.

Marion County had a county court form of government for the first century of its existence. The county court exercised a combination of executive, administrative, and judicial functions; however as the judicial branch of state government developed, the necessity for the county court to exercise judicial functions diminished. In 1941 the county was divested of all judicial responsibilities, and the remaining vestiges of probate and civil jurisdiction were transferred to the circuit court. In 1961 the Legislative Assembly enabled a county court with no judicial functions to reorganize as a board of county commissioners. With court approval, the Marion County Court was abolished and became the Marion County Board of Commissioners in 1963.

The 2000 population of 284,834 represented an increase of 24.66% over 1990. The 2006 population of 306,665 marked an increase of 7.7% over 2000.

The county is located in the center of the Willamette Valley. Agriculture and food processing are important to the county's economy, as are lumber, manufacturing, and education. Government, however, is the county's main employer and economic base.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Aumsville	city	Incorporated Area
- Aurora	city	Incorporated Area
- Detroit	city	Incorporated Area
- Donald	city	Incorporated Area
- Gates	city	Incorporated Area
- Gervais	city	Incorporated Area
- Hubbard	city	Incorporated Area
- Idanha	city	Incorporated Area
- Jefferson	city	Incorporated Area
- Keizer	city	Incorporated Area
- Mount Angel	city	Incorporated Area
- Salem (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Scotts Mills	city	Incorporated Area
- Silverton	city	Incorporated Area
- St. Paul	city	Incorporated Area
- Stayton	city	Incorporated Area
- Sublimity	city	Incorporated Area
- Turner	city	Incorporated Area
- Woodburn	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."