Continue to Stand in the Gap: Tillamook County

Cloverdale Church, Tillamook County, OR
And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:18

Tillamook County, just south of Clatsop, is a continuation of the romance and mystery of Oregon’s north coast. It is believed to be one of the first places Sir Francis Drake set foot on the West Coast, and there are fascinating stories of buried treasure and shipwrecks from the 1600s.

Neahkahnie Mountain, a headland between the counties of Clatsop and Tillamook, was considered a sacred place by the Tillamook Indians. There have long been rumors of treasure buried there by Spanish sailors, as well as a shipwreck that left huge amounts of beeswax and pottery along the beach just south of the headland. It wasn’t just the Spanish who washed up at the foot of the sacred mountain – Japanese junks and sailors are also rumored to have landed there.

Tillamook County, OR
Modern-day Tillamook County offers lush rural farms and communities, a thriving tourist industry along the coast as well as recreation in the mountains inland. Fishing and all things related to the sea are also major industries. The county is well known for its dairy farms and the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Read more here, here, and here.

The county seat is the city of Tillamook.

The Tillamook Board of County Commissioners is made up of Erin Skaar, Mary Faith Bell, and Doug Olson, but the recent election has changed the Board. The primary election on May 21st put Paul Fournier, a former Tillamook County sheriff deputy, in as commissioner #2, the position held temporarily by Doug Olson since the end of 2023. It appears Erin Skaar will remain a commissioner, although results won’t be final for a few weeks.

The Tillamook County Sheriff is Joshua Brown. While some crimes in Tillamook County are on the increase (violence, homelessness) and getting qualified officers is still a challenge in Tillamook County, as well as elsewhere, the Sheriff’s Office has hired three new employees in February and another two in March. Additionally, two new patrol deputies will be graduating from the police academy soon. Pray for the sheriff's office and for the police department in the city of Tillamook.

This winter Tillamook County declared a state of emergency when severe flooding caused roads to  collapse and other issues. Pray as cleanup and repair continue this summer.

It isn’t hard to find a church in Tillamook, either the county or the city. The various groups include Baptists, Methodists, Catholic, Pentecostal and Assembly of God, and Lutheran, as well as non-denominational groups. Pray for the churches of Tillamook County. 

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