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 Lincoln
City was originally several small towns that all ran together. The towns
were named, Cutler City Taft, Nelscott, Delake, Nelscott and Oceanlake.
On March 3, 1965, after several failed attempts; these five towns were incorporated as Lincoln City. When it was
determined that using one of the five cities' names would be too
controversial, a contest was held to find a new name. "Lincoln City",
submitted by school children, was chosen from among the entries.
Lincoln City has a temperate year-round climate. Although sometimes there
are some hot days in the summer and chilly evenings in the winter you can
expect to experience temperatures ranging between 45º and 65º during the
winter and 60º to 70º during the summer. In the middle of Lincoln City is
'D' River (the shortest river in the world) which empties into the ocean
from Devils Lake
where there is windsurfing, sail boating, swimming, bumper boats and more.
With the mild temperatures and 7 miles of sandy beach Lincoln City is a
great place for a relaxing vacation.
Lincoln City was named by Kitelines Magazine as one of the best places to
fly kites in North America, celebrates with three kite festivals each
year, two outdoors and one indoors. Situated on the 45th parallel, Lincoln
City is positioned at the ideal point for mixing warm equatorial air and
cold polar air, which creates ideal winds for outdoor flying. Lincoln City
also boasts one of the worlds largest skate parks which was on the cover
of "Thrasher" magazine.
 History
Written by Anne Hall, Curator, North Lincoln County Historical Museum
Homesteaders began arriving in what is now the Lincoln City area soon
after Congress passed the Dawes Act in 1887. This act opened up Coast
Reservation lands to white settlement and gave eighty acre "allotments" to
reservation Indians. Native Americans as well as white settlers first
inhabited land along the Siletz River, Siletz Bay and the Salmon River.
Early settlers homesteaded the land and combined subsistence farming with
fishing and hunting in order to survive on the isolated Coast.
Sissie and Jakie Johnson Jr. were the first residents of Taft. They had
been given a 160- acre allotment on Siletz Bay as compensation when
reservation lands were taken away. With its location on Siletz Bay
providing access to the Coast and ocean, and the Siletz River providing
transportation to people living along the river, Taft became the center of
north Lincoln County's social and economic life. Homesteaders came into
town for festivities on most holidays, but the Fourth of July drew the
biggest crowds.
John W. Bones erected the first store in Taft, establishing a post office
in the store on January 22, 1906 with Mr. Bones as the first postmaster.
When naming the town Mr. Bones requested first the name of Siletz Bay but
this was rejected since there was already a town of Siletz in the area. He
named the town for William Howard Taft who was then Secretary of War and
later became president.
In the mid-twenties and early 1930s, Herbert Rexroad, one of the earliest
businessmen to settle in Oceanlake, operated a campground in the grove of
trees believed to have been the exact spot where Jason Lee and his party
camped. The large tract owned by Rexroad and his partner Edgar L. Hoyt was
registered as "Devils Lake Park" and constituted the main business section
of the town. Another large tract of land, owned by the Catholic Church,
was called Raymond, named for Father Raymond, the church's pastor.
The town had no official name until 1926 when a post office was
established with A. C. Deuel as the first postmaster. Some have given Mr.
Duel credit for naming the town, but it is also thought Mrs. H. E. Warren,
a member of the Booster Club, is the author of the name, having described
the area as lying between the ocean and the lake. Oceanlake annexed Wecoma
Beach, another small town to the north, and was incorporated as a full
city on November 3, 1945. Boyd C. Jenkins, a dentist, was the first mayor.
The earliest homesteaders included Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hostetler, who
bought Indian allotment land as early as 1910, and the Thorpe brothers,
Alvin and Harry. Harry purchased land to the south of the Hostetler's and
named the platted tracts "Camp Roosevelt" and "Roosevelt by the Sea" after
the newly completed Highway. The origin of the name Delake has several
versions. In one, early Finnish homesteaders would say of the area, "I'm
going to de lake," and the name stuck to the area. In another, the d and e
constitute a French word meaning "by", hence, the area "by the lake."
The first store and Post Office in Delake was established in 1924. A. C.
Duel was the storekeeper and became the town's first postmaster.
The "D" River, which runs through the center of Delake, has been known by
various names in the past including "the outlet". A contest determined its
permanent name, giving the shortest river in the world the shortest name.
Possibly because of Nelscott's dense forest of spruce and hemlock, no
settlers are known to have inhabited the future town site until shortly
before 1910, when August Wallace homesteaded on the land.
In the early 1900's, Charles P. Nelson glimpsed a lovely valley gently
sloping to the sea as he walked the beach from Taft to Cloverdale, noting
the wooded hills on three sides and crystal stream flowing to the sea.
Years later, when Mr. Nelson and Dr. W. G. Scott were looking for land to
develop they revisited the area, found it for sale, and purchased it.
Combining their last names at the suggestion of Mrs. Nelson, they formed
the Nelscott Land Company and the town of Nelscott was born.
When Nelscott's second store opened in 1927, it contained offices for the
Land Company, a restaurant, a bus depot, hotel rooms and living quarters.
In 1929 it also contained Nelscott's first post office.
Cutler City was the third town site in North Lincoln County. Originally
part of the allotment of Charlie Depoe, a Siletz Indian, the land was sold
to Mary and George E. Cutler of Dallas who established a town site on June
4, 1913. The North Lincoln Rhododendron Society was organized in 1938 for
the purpose of preserving native plants and celebrating the blooming
season. Cutler City, abloom with so many colorful rhododendrons from May
through June, was chosen as its rhododendron capital.
In the 1930s these towns competed with other Coastal towns to attract
tourists and increase business. Annual events like Taft's Redhead Roundup
and Oceanlake's Regatta drew visitors from all over the state and further
emphasized the distinctive characteristics of each town.
Because government services to these communities, such as fire and police
protection, were needed by all, a long debate ensued as to whether the
towns, some of which had incorporated as cities, should combine. However,
since all of the towns in the area developed somewhat independently of one
another, and had separate post offices, many people were reluctant for the
towns to join together as one, and a protracted discussion ensued.
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