Praying for Oregon Counties: Coos

Coos Bay boats
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.                         Psalm 107: 22-24

Oddly, I don't think I've been to Coos County. It lies spread along the southern Oregon coast. In 1853 the Oregon Territorial government sectioned off the western parts of Umpqua and Jackson counties to create Coos. Empire City, now part of the town of Coos Bay, was the first county seat, but later the citizens voted to move it to Coquille (named after the local Native American tribe, pronounced 

Ko-quell), population currently around 4,000. 

 

Like counties surrounding it, Coos County is heavily forested. Agriculture, commercial fishing and timber products are the main economic activities in Coos County. During the gold rush of the 1850’s a man named Charles McFarlin came west seeking gold, and then decided to raise cranberries instead, from a variety he developed in Massachusetts. He began in Tillamook County, then moved to Coos County and thrived there. Now the county leads the state in cranberry production and is said to produce the best colored (deepest red) cranberries in North America. 

 

Not being very familiar with Coos County a couple of things surprised me. One is that the principle city in the county, Coos Bay (known as Marshfield until 1944), is the largest city along Oregon’s coast with a population of 16,000. The second surprise is that the port of Coos Bay is the largest port in Oregon except for the Port of Portland. There have been plans afoot for several years to dredge the port and create what would be a truly major international seaport. This, in conjunction with plans to bring a natural gas pipeline (the Jordan Cove project) across southern Oregon to a terminal at Coos Bay (where it would be shipped internationally) creates a lot of controversy as well as potential economic growth in the area. These two projects have been delayed due to a variety of permit, environmental and financial problems, but it will be interesting to see how things go.

 

Bandon, also on the coast, is a popular tourist destination, with timber, fishing, cranberries and cheesemaking as local industries. The town was named after the Irish hometown of an early settler.


Coquille River light house


Coquille is the county seat, as stated before, and there is a three-person County Commission to oversee the various county duties. Currently the three Commissioners are Bob Main, John Sweet and Melissa Cribbins.

 

How to pray for Coos County?

 

Pray for the wisdom of the commissioners.

Pray for wisdom for all involved in the bay-dredging and gas pipeline projects. There is much that needs wisdom - with choosing investors, protecting the environment and coping with the changes that the finished projects would have on the area. 


Margaret

 

 

 

 

  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Praying for Oregon Counties: Multnomah

Image
Mount Hood, Oregon Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep;  Psalm 36: 5-6   We turn our attention to Multnomah County, but most eyes, and news cameras, are fixed there already. Multnomah County is the smallest in land - 466 square miles - and the largest in population…and influence. Compare Multnomah with 1705 people per square mile, to Malheur County with three. This is, of course, due to Portland, the largest city in the state, which is also the county seat. In fact, since 1968 the county government has had a consolidated city-county government and there have been some attempts to merge the city-county government into one unit.  Multnomah was created in 1854 out of the eastern edge of Washington County and a northern strip of Clackamas County. Its northern border is the Columbia River. The county isn’t all Portland, however. The eastern por
Read more

Continue to Stand in the Gap: Curry County

Image
Curry County, Oregon coastline The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  Psalm 92: 12-13 Curry County is in the extreme southwest corner of Oregon, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, and California to the south. We’ve written about historic shipwrecks and the unique crops grown in the county here , here , and here . Brookings, with 6,744 population, is the largest town, while Gold Beach, with 2,241, is the county seat. Port Orford, at around 1,133 is the other incorporated town in Curry County. The County Commissioners consist of a three-person Board that meets regularly in Gold Beach. The current commissioners are John Herzog , chair; Brad Alcorn , and Jay Trost . The County Sheriff is John Ward . His office has been busy, the county dealing with wildfires during the summer besides their usual duties. In addition to being understaffed, the
Read more

Get With The Plan

Image
Image by  ErikaWittlieb  from  Pixabay   Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Isaiah 30:21   In writing this series of blog posts on Oregon counties, I’ve had to do some historical research. In looking at some counties, particularly those with which I have little personal experience or knowledge, I am sometimes at a loss to suggest a prayer focus. What is really going on behind the scenes? Most importantly, what are the spiritual roots of poverty, or corruption or a high crime rate in certain areas?   While it is always good to pray general prayers, asking the Lord to bless a certain city, to reveal truth, to encourage honest, faithful folks and prosper those who are seeking to earn a living for their families, sometimes we have to dig deeper, not just in research but in prayer.  This is where we hone our skill in hearing God’s directions, and following His plan. Image by  MikesPhotos  from  Pixabay   I don’t mean we
Read more