Praying for Those in Authority: Curry County

Rogue River Bridge, Gold Beach, Oregon

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

Traveling to Curry County puts us in the extreme southwest corner of the state. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, California to the south, Coos County to the north and Josephine County to the east, it was an isolated place reachable mostly by water until well into the twentieth century. The county was named after George Law Curry, who was twice governor of Oregon Territory. There are some fascinating legends and stories that have been collected by the county historical society that include lost gold mines and a Bigfoot-type creature that used to scare both the Native Americans and miners and settlers out of a certain area.

Curry County, Oregon

The population is about 23,000 and the three incorporated towns are Gold Beach, Port Orford, and Brookings. Gold Beach is the county seat and originally was called Ellensburg. It was renamed Gold Beach in 1890 to prevent confusion with Ellensburg, Washington. The town sits just south of the Rogue River and 40 miles north of the California state line. The name comes from the discovery of gold in 1852 in the sands at the mouth of the Rogue River. The community was also involved in at least one battle during the Rogue River Indian War of 1855-56. The economy has cycled through gold mining, fishing, and logging and is now popular with tourists, although agriculture, wood products, including myrtle wood and Port Orford cedar, remain viable industries. The southern corner of Curry County along with the northern area of California in Del Norte County raise 90% of the Easter lilies grown in the United States. A popular attraction in Gold Beach is the Isaak Lee Patterson Memorial Bridge, also called the Rogue River Bridge. Built in the early 1930s, it is an impressive-looking arched span that was named a Historic Engineering Landmark in 1982 and placed on the National Register of Historic Place in 2005.

 While there are churches in Curry County, it was a hard place to get to in the early days. Not sure where our famous circuit riders were in those days, but in 1888 the Gold Beach Gazette ran an ad that read:

Our church privileges are not the best in the world, and we might here suggest that our Eastern brothers who have a surplus of missionaries to send to heathen lands to be devoured by cannibals, would do well to send a few to this coast. We would not eat them, but on the other hand would treat them well, listen to their teachings, and allow them to support themselves.  

In late 2022 the state senator for this area, Dallas Heard, resigned. As a result, the state representative for District 1, which includes Curry County as well as parts of Coos and Douglas, David Brock Smith, was appointed to fill Senator Heard’s vacant seat. Next, Court Boice, the chair of the Curry County Board of Commissioners was chosen to fill Representative Smith’s spot, and John Herzog became the chair of the Board of Commissioners with Brad Alcorn and Jay Trost filling the other two spots. The commissioners serve four-year terms.

The District Attorney of Curry County is Joshua A. Spansail.

The County Sheriff is John Ward. He has worked for the Curry County Sheriff’s Office for 31 years, 8 as Sheriff. In 2013 he was recognized as the Search & Rescue Coordinator of the Year. He was born and raised in Gold Beach, spent some time in the navy, and returned to raise his family there.

Shelley Denney is the County Clerk. She has over 27 years of experience in the County Clerk’s office, in records and elections administration, becoming Clerk in January of 2023. She, too, was raised in Curry County, graduating from Gold Beach High School in 1990. She and her husband raised two children there and have one grandchild.