Seaside, Oregon

Seaside, Oregon
City

Seaside Promenade

Location in Oregon and Clatsop County
Coordinates: 45°59′34″N 123°55′20″W / 45.99278°N 123.92222°W / 45.99278; -123.92222Coordinates: 45°59′34″N 123°55′20″W / 45.99278°N 123.92222°W / 45.99278; -123.92222
Country United States
State Oregon
County Clatsop
Incorporated 1899
Government
  Mayor Don Larson
Area[1]
  Total 4.14 sq mi (10.72 km2)
  Land 3.94 sq mi (10.20 km2)
  Water 0.20 sq mi (0.52 km2)
Elevation 17 ft (5.2 m)
Population (2010)[2]
  Total 6,457
  Estimate (2012[3]) 6,471
  Density 1,638.8/sq mi (632.7/km2)
Time zone Pacific (UTC-8)
  Summer (DST) Pacific (UTC-7)
ZIP code 97138
Area code(s) 503 and 971
FIPS code 41-65950[4]
GNIS feature ID 1136735[5]
Website www.cityofseaside.us

Seaside is a city in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. The name Seaside is derived from Seaside House, a historic summer resort built in the 1870s by railroad magnate Ben Holladay. The city's population was 6,457 at the 2010 census.[6]

History

Ocean Shore Limited railroad at Seaside, Oregon ca. 1910
The Gilbert House in Seaside

The Clatsop were an historic Native American tribe that had a village named Ne-co-tat (in their Chinook language) in this area. Indigenous peoples had long inhabited the coastal area.

About January 1, 1806, a group of men from the Lewis and Clark Expedition built a salt-making cairn at the site later developed as Seaside. The city was not incorporated until February 17, 1899, when coastal resort areas were being settled.[7] It is about 79 miles by car northwest of Portland, Oregon, a major population center.[8]

In 1912, Alexandre Gilbert (1843–1932) was elected Mayor of Seaside. Gilbert was a French immigrant, a veteran of the Franco Prussian War (1870-1871). After living in San Francisco, California and Astoria, Oregon, Gilbert moved to Seaside where he had a beach cottage (built in 1885). Gilbert was a real estate developer who donated land to the City of Seaside for its one-and-a-half-mile-long Promenade, or "Prom," along the Pacific beach.

In 1892 he added to his beach cottage. Nearly 100 years later, what was known as the Gilbert House was operated commercially as the Gilbert Inn since the mid-1980s. Both it and Gilbert's eponymous "Gilbert Block" office building on Broadway still survive.

Gilbert died at home in Seaside and is interred in Ocean View Abbey Mausoleum in Warrenton.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.14 square miles (10.72 km2), of which 3.94 square miles (10.20 km2) is land and 0.20 square miles (0.52 km2) is water.[1]

360° panoramic view from the beach at Seaside. Tillamook Head at left.

Seaside lies on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, at the southern end of the Clatsop Plains, about 29 km (18 mi) south of where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific. The city is developed on both sides of the Necanicum River, which flows to the ocean at the city's northern edge. Tillamook Head towers over the southern edge of the city.

Harvesting razor clams

The geography associated with the gradual slope of the broad sandy beaches of Clatsop Spit provide excellent conditions for the formation of beds of millions of Pacific razor clams annually. The razor clams attract thousands of visitors to Seaside Beach each year.[9]

Climate

Seaside has a typical Pacific Northwest coastal climate, receiving rainy winters and mild-to-cool summers. Mean high temperature in the warmest month, August, is roughly 68 °F (20 °C).

Climate data for Seaside, Oregon
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 52.1
(11.2)
53.7
(12.1)
55.2
(12.9)
57.2
(14)
60.8
(16)
63.5
(17.5)
66.3
(19.1)
67.6
(19.8)
67.3
(19.6)
62.0
(16.7)
54.8
(12.7)
51.0
(10.6)
59.3
(15.2)
Daily mean °F (°C) 45.3
(7.4)
45.8
(7.7)
47.2
(8.4)
49.2
(9.6)
53.2
(11.8)
56.5
(13.6)
59.4
(15.2)
60.0
(15.6)
58.0
(14.4)
53.4
(11.9)
48.0
(8.9)
44.1
(6.7)
51.68
(10.93)
Average low °F (°C) 38.6
(3.7)
37.8
(3.2)
39.3
(4.1)
41.2
(5.1)
45.5
(7.5)
49.5
(9.7)
52.5
(11.4)
52.5
(11.4)
48.7
(9.3)
44.8
(7.1)
41.2
(5.1)
37.2
(2.9)
44.1
(6.7)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 10.74
(272.8)
8.38
(212.9)
8.45
(214.6)
6.04
(153.4)
4.09
(103.9)
3.29
(83.6)
1.47
(37.3)
1.23
(31.2)
2.29
(58.2)
6.20
(157.5)
11.65
(295.9)
10.55
(268)
74.39
(1,889.5)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in.) 20.4 16.7 19.4 17.0 14.4 11.8 8.1 6.9 8.4 14.2 20.4 19.6 177.4
Source: NOAA [10]

Demographics

Seaside after sunset
Historical population
Census Pop.
188075
18908716.0%
1900191119.5%
19101,121486.9%
19201,80260.7%
19301,565−13.2%
19402,90285.4%
19503,88633.9%
19603,877−0.2%
19704,40213.5%
19805,19318.0%
19905,3593.2%
20005,90010.1%
20106,4579.4%
Est. 20156,540[11]1.3%
Sources:[6][12][13]

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 6,457 people, 2,969 households, and 1,565 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,638.8 inhabitants per square mile (632.7/km2). There were 4,638 housing units at an average density of 1,177.2 per square mile (454.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 0.6% African American, 0.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.8% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.4% of the population.

There were 2,969 households of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.4% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.3% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the city was 41.5 years. 20% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.7% were from 25 to 44; 28.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

Arts and culture

The Seaside Jazz Festival (formerly the Oregon Dixieland Jubilee) is an annual festival that features some of the most popular Trad Jazz and Swing bands in the US and Canada. Seaside holds an art walk the first Saturday of each month.[14]

Annual cultural events

Seaside hosts an annual 4th of July celebration which includes a parade, outdoor concerts, and one of the largest fireworks displays on the west coast.[15]

Seaside City Hall

Every spring, Seaside hosts the Dorchester Conference, a convention of Oregon political activists, typically conservative, independent, or center-right. This convention was founded in 1964 by then-state representative Bob Packwood as a forum for all Republicans statewide.

In the 1990s it became dominated by members of the conservative branch of the party. Over the years the conference has attracted visits from presidential candidates, debates between Republican primary candidates, and discussions of wider political and social issues.[16] It is run by an independent board and is not formally affiliated with the Oregon Republican Party.[17]

The Miss Oregon Pageant, the official state finals to the Miss America Pageant, takes place annually at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center.[18]

The annual Salt Maker's Return is held in August. The themed event celebrates Seaside history. Five men of the Lewis and Clark expedition needed nearly two months to make the equivalent of 28 US gallons (110 l) of salt; it was critical for them to be able to preserve meat for the winter and their several thousand-mile journey home to the East.[19]

Seaside in 1972

The beach and promenade at Seaside serve as the finish line for the Hood to Coast and Portland to Coast relays, held annually on the weekend before Labor Day.

Museums and other points of interest

Seaside is home to the Seaside Aquarium, featuring living regional marine life, a hands-on discovery center, and a 35-foot (11 m) gray whale skeleton, all within a short walk from the Lewis & Clark monument.[20]

Murals adorn several buildings throughout Seaside, depicting history, marine life, and life in Seaside.[21]

Media

Newspaper

Radio

Transportation

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-12-21.
  2. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-12-21.
  3. "Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  4. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  5. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  6. 1 2 "2010 Census profiles: Oregon cities alphabetically R-S" (PDF). Portland State University Population Research Center. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
  7. Leeds, W. H. (1899). "Special Laws". The State of Oregon General and Special Laws and Joint Resolutions and Memorials Enacted and Adopted by the Twentieth Regular Session of the Legislative Assembly. Salem, Oregon: State Printer: 959.
  8. "Seaside, OR to Portland, OR", Distance between Cities website, 2016
  9. "Oregon's Clams". clamdigging.info. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  10. "NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  11. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  12. Moffatt, Riley. Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850-1990. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 215.
  13. "Subcounty population estimates: Oregon 2000-2007" (CSV). United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
  14. First Saturday Artwalk - Seaside Chamber of Commerce
  15. http://www.seasidechamber.com/events/4thofjuly/index.htm
  16. Dorchester Conference
  17. "Republican Party: We're not Dorchester". The Oregonian.
  18. "Miss Oregon Pageant starts today in Seaside," The Oregonian, 8 July 2004.
  19. "The Salt Works – Lewis and Clark National Historical Park". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  20. "Seaside Activities and Attractions – Seaside Aquarium". Coast Explorer Magazine. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  21. "Art & History Al Fresco: Historical Murals in Seaside Oregon". Coast Explorer Magazine. December 25, 2010. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
  22. "Seaside Transportation System Plan". seasidetsp.org. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
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