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Quick Facts About Lane County

County Seat: Eugene

Elev. at Eugene: 422'

Established: Jan. 28, 1851

Area: 4,620-sq. mi.  From the Pacific Ocean to the Cascade Mountains, Lane County is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined and almost the size of Connecticut. Although 90 percent of Lane County is forestland, Eugene and Springfield comprise the second largest urban area in Oregon after Portland.

Average Temp.: January 40°, July 70°

Population: 322,959 (2000 Census)

Assessed Value: $16,744,937,718

Real Market Value: $22,628,274,669

Annual Precipitation: 46"

Principal Industries: Agriculture, Higher Education, High Technology, Forest Products, Recreation, RV Manufacturing, Tourism

Points of Interest:  Twenty historic covered bridges, Bohemia Mines, coastal sand dunes, Darlingtonia Botanical Wayside, Fern Ridge Reservoir, Heceta Head Lighthouse, Hendricks Park Rhododendron Garden, hot springs, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Lane Comm. College, Lane ESD Planetarium, Martin Rapids whitewater, McKenzie Pass, Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, Old Town Florence, Pac-10 sports events, Proxy Falls, sea lion caves, University of Oregon, vineyards and wineries, Waldo Lake, Washburne State Park tide pools, Willamette Pass ski area.

History:  Lane County was named for General Joseph Lane, a rugged frontier hero who was Oregon’s first territorial governor. Pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail in the late 1840s came to Lane County mainly to farm. The county’s first district court met under a large oak tree until a clerk’s office could be built in 1852. A few years later, the first courthouse opened in what is now downtown Eugene. With the building of the railroads, the market for timber opened in the 1880s. Today, wood products are still an important part of the economy in addition to high-tech manufacturing and tourism. Lane County government operates under a home rule charter approved by voters in 1963.