Yaquina, Oregon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yaquina, Oregon
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The former site of Yaquina City
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 Yaquina, Oregon
Location in Oregon
Yaquina, Oregon
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Lincoln |
| Named for | Yaquina people |
| Elevation | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Population
(2000)
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| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Coordinates and elevation from United States Geological Survey | |
Yaquina (pronounced yə-KWIN-ə) was once a busy port town called Yaquina City. It is a small community in Lincoln County, Oregon. Yaquina is located near the mouth of the Yaquina River, on the east side of Yaquina Bay. It's about a 3 to 4 mile (5 to 6 km) drive from Newport. In 1887, the Oregon Press Association, which later became the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, was started in Yaquina City.
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What Does the Name Yaquina Mean?
The name "Yaquina" comes from the Yaquina people. They were a small Native American tribe. These people spoke a language called Yakonan. They lived near the bay, which is why the city, the bay, and the river all share their name.
A Look Back: The History of Yaquina
In the late 1800s, Yaquina City was a very important place. It was the end point of the Oregon Pacific Railroad. This railway connected the harbor at Yaquina to cities like Corvallis and Albany.
The Railroad Dream
A man named Thomas Egenton Hogg believed in this railroad project. He and his financial supporters thought that combining steamships and the railroad at Yaquina Bay could compete with the usual route to Portland. That route used the Columbia River.
The first train ran on the line in 1885. It connected with a steamer at Yaquina City that traveled to San Francisco. However, building the railway line was very expensive. The Oregon Pacific company faced financial problems.
Changes for the Railroad
After many years of money and legal issues, the Oregon Pacific became part of the Southern Pacific in 1907. It then became a smaller branch line.
Yaquina City's Busy Days
By 1911, Yaquina City was a lively place. It had a railroad station and a roundhouse for trains. There was also a bank, a large three-story hotel, and many other businesses and homes. On weekends, as many as eight trains would bring people from the Willamette Valley to Yaquina City. From there, a steamer called the Yaquina would take them across the bay to Newport for beach trips.
Why Yaquina City Shrank
Over time, Newport and nearby Toledo grew larger. These towns were easier to reach by car. Yaquina City, however, started to shrink. By the start of World War II, Toledo became the new end point for the railway line. The tracks from Toledo to Yaquina City were removed.
About 20 years later, Yaquina City had no people living there. A historian named Edwin Culp once wrote that you could drive through the area today and not even know a town existed there.
Yaquina and the Solar Eclipse
On August 21, 2017, something special happened in Yaquina. It was the very first place in the United States to see the total solar eclipse. This means the moon completely blocked the sun from view.
