 Linn
County -
On December 28, 1847 the Provisional Legislature created Linn County
from the southern portion of Champoeg (later Marion) County. The boundaries
were altered in 1851 and 1854 with the creation of Lane and Wasco
Counties. The county consists of 2,297 square miles and is bounded
on the north by Marion County; on the east by Deschutes and Jefferson
Counties; on the south by Lane County; and on the west by Benton County.
Linn County was named for U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Missouri who
was the author of the Donation Land Act that gave free land to settlers
in the West.
The
county seat was originally located in Calapooia (Brownsville), but
in 1851 the Territorial Legislature passed an act establishing Albany
as the county seat. A special election in 1856 reaffirmed Albany
as the county seat. The Spaulding school in Brownsville served as
the first courthouse. A new courthouse was erected in Albany in
1853 but was destroyed by fire in 1861. A third courthouse was built
in 1865 and remodeled in 1890 and 1899. The present courthouse was
constructed in 1940 adjacent to the earlier courthouses.
The
general administration of Linn County business was placed in the
county court, composed of two elected commissioners and a county
judge. The county court met for the first time in December, 1849.
In 1970 the county court was replaced by a board of county commissioners.
Current county officials include three commissioners, district attorney,
assessor, clerk, sheriff, surveyor, and treasurer.
The
population in 2000 was 103,069. This represented an increase of
12.98% over 1990.
The
climate and soil conditions provide one of Oregon's most diversified
agriculture areas, allowing a wide variety of specialty crops and
leading the nation in the production of common and perennial ryegrass.
Linn County is also home to major producers of rare and primary
metals, processed food, manufactured homes and motor homes as well
as the traditional logging and wood products industries.
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 Sodaville,
the sleepy Linn County town south of Lebanon, had a
more effervescent personality in the late 1800s. A white
settler discovered a soda spring at the site in 1847
but locals fought over ownership until it was deeded
to the public in 1871. Residents soon parlayed the vicinity
around the spring into a summer resort. An 1878 atlas
described the "salubrious" setting:
"During
the summer months, the place presents quite an animated
appearance, the neighboring hill being dotted with numerous
tents of visitors, who come from all sides to enjoy
the soda and the social intercourse. There is a good
hotel, where board can be obtained at reasonable rate
also a livery stable. Quite a number of elegant cottages
have been added lately, which give it quite a fashionable
appearance. The waters have a pungent but not unpleasant
flavor, resembling seltzer. They are known to be beneficial
in diseases of the liver, dyspepsia, and some skin diseases."
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