Cities Guide for the Southern Oregon Coast


Welcome To North Bend
A Little About Our Town of North Bend!

Situated on a “north bend” of the Coos Bay estuary, the town’s history dates back to the 1850s, when there were sawmills and a handful of houses. It took the vision of an early 20th Century lumberman named Louis Simpson to make the settlement into a proper city, with the proper name North Bend. Simpson’s father had started the town’s original sawmill, and the businesses expanded to include mills that turned out a variety of wood products, from fruit boxes to fancy doors. There were machines shops and foundry, a woolen mill, a furniture factory, milk condesary, brewery and two shipyards, which turned out a steady stream of wooden schooners that took Simpson lumber to San Francisco and other distant markets. North Bend had the region’s first hospital, three churches and probably three times as many saloons and brothels.

North Bend claims a place in aviation history. In 1913, Vern Gorst brought a hydroplane to North Bend. In 1925 Pacific Air Lines, and air mail carrier with an occasional passenger riding uncomfortably atop the mail sacks, was founded by Gorst in the North Bend Hotel. Pacific Air Lines later merged with other companies to become United Airlines.

During World War II, Kruse and Banks Shipyards built minesweepers and rescue tugs for the United States Navy. In 1960, Pony Village Shopping Center, the first covered mall on the Oregon Coast, was established. Industrial activity of the 1950s through 1970s centered on forest products, but the town’s main sawmills closed in the 1980s as timber companies finished cutting the region’s old-growth forests.

Recreational activities increased, tourism grew, and service industries added workers, including many at the Mill Casino and Hotel, built on the site of a former sawmill. The future will be different from the past, but North Benders remain proud of their schools, their town, and their people.

The town is situated along US 101 about 5 miles north of Coos Bay. There are full services, including motels, supermarkets and Pony Village Mall, largest indoor mall on the Oregon Coast. No RV parks at present, but there are many in the adjacent city of Coos Bay, as well as public campgrounds just north in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation  Area.

The downtown, consisting of many fireproof masonry buildings dating to the early years of the 20th Century, are slowly being restored, and still house a number of lively businesses, including antique and collectibles shops and used book stores.

The town’s main event is the July Jubilee, which celebrates the frontier spirit.

North Bend's early town life was raw - a coastal frontier, full of saloons and bawdy houses for workingmen and lumberjacks. Virtually every downtown building had rooms for drinking, gambling, or prostitution. Other town elements, however, battled for respectability, organizing church groups and civic associations. 

Many of North Bend's existing structures were constructed during the 1920's and were made of concrete, rather than fire-prone wood. This era was highlighted by a commercial boom, civic progress, and some bootlegging. 

North Bend claims a place in aviation history. In 1913, Vern Gorst brought a hydroplane to North Bend. In 1925 Pacific Air Lines, and air mail carrier with an occasional passenger riding uncomfortably atop the mail sacks, was founded by Gorst in the North Bend Hotel. 

During World War II, Kruse and Banks Shipyards built minesweepers and rescue tugs for the United States Navy. In 1960, Pony Village Shopping Center, the first covered mall on the Oregon Coast, was established. Industrial activity of the 1950's through 1970's centered on forest products as national corporation continued sawmill and pulp mill operations. 

Recreational activities increased, tourism grew, and service industries added workers in the 1980's. The future will be different from the past, but North Benders remain proud of their schools, their town, and their people.

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