Бэндон, Орегон: История и особенности города

Bandon ('/b//æ//n//d//ən/) is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown. The population was 3,066 at the 2010 census

Before 1850, the Coquille Indians lived in the area. Then in 1851, gold was discovered at nearby Whiskey Run Beach by French Canadian trappers, though the gold rush did not have much of an impact on the area. In 1852, Henry Baldwin, from County Cork, Ireland, was shipwrecked on the Coos Bay bar and walked into this area. The first permanent European settlers came in 1853 and established the present town site. In 1856, conflicts in the area arose and Indigenous Americans were sent to the Siletz Reservation. In 1859, the boat Twin Sisters sailed into the Coquille River and opened the outlet for all inland produce and resources. Bandon was founded by the Irish peer George Bennett in 1873. George Bennett, his sons Joseph and George, and George Sealey came from Bandon, Ireland. The following year the town's previous name of Averille was changed to Bandon after the town of the same name in Ireland. The next year, Joseph Williams and his three sons arrived, also from Bandon, Ireland. In 1877, the post office was established. In 1880, cheese making began. That same year, Congress appropriated money to build the jetty. In 1883, the first sawmill, school house, and Catholic church were built. In 1884, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on the jetty. George Bennett also introduced gorse (Ulex europaeus) into the local area, which in the following decades went wild and became a nuisance in both the town and in the neighboring countryside. Gorse, a spiny plant, grows so thickly a person cannot walk through it. It is also a very oily plant, which easily catches fire. Cranberries have been grown in Bandon since 1885, when Charles McFarlin planted vines he brought from Massachusetts. McFarlin had originally come to pan for gold in California. He did not make his fortune, or even a living, so he turned to what he knew best. He brought vines from Cape Cod and planted them in the state's first cranberry bog near Hauser. This bog produced cranberries for eight decades. His variety adapted to growing conditions on the west coast. The variety was named McFarlin in his honor and was the principal variety grown on the west coast until overtaken by the Stevens variety. Bandon is also the location of the first cranberry bogs to be wet harvested, which is done by building dikes around the bogs then flooding them. In 2010, Bandon was named one of the "Coolest Small Towns in America" by BudgetTravel.

On September 26, 1936, a fire burned several miles of forest east of town. But a sudden shift in the wind drove the flames swiftly westward. Ignited by the forest fire, the town's abundant gorse became engulfed in flames, Bandon resident D. H. Woomer told The Coos Bay Times. Bandon's entire commercial district was destroyed. The total loss stated at the time was $3 million USD, with 11 fatalities. Ironically, the gorse was first introduced to the Oregon Coast by the founder of Bandon, Lord George Bennett, from his native Ireland. Firefighters found that burning gorse reacted to having water squirted on it like a kitchen grease fire—it simply spread burning gobs of gorse everywhere. Stewart Holbrook described this conflagration in his essay "The Gorse of Bandon." Part of the commercial district had been erected on wooden pilings jutting out over the Coquille River not far from the South Jetty, accommodating river traffic at the merchants' doors. After the 1936 fire, when Bandon began to be rebuilt, the new perimeter of the business district did not extend beyond the available land. There is still gorse in Bandon today, but municipal codes strictly regulate how high and thick it may be allowed to get.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.15 square miles (8 km2), of which, 2.77 square miles (7 km2) is land and 0.38 square miles (1 km2) is water.

Located at the northern end of the Brookings banana belt, Bandon has a warm summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), making it drier, sunnier and warmer than most other locations on the Oregon coast. Rain and overcast conditions are common in the winter months, while during the summer it is mostly dry. Snow can occur during the winter, however, this is not very common and usually occurs about once or twice a season. Below freezing temperatures are rare in the city, usually occurring about once or twice a winter. Extreme temperatures of or colder are extremely rare, usually happening about once every five years. Summers are dry and cool with an average July high temperature of about while lows are generally in the 50s °F. High temperatures in the mid 70s °F to the low 90s °F occur on average about once or twice every summer. Bandon's highest reading of occurred on September 21, 1990. The lowest reading of was observed only three months later on December 21, 1990.

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,066 people, 1,466 households, and 762 families residing in the city. The population density was There were 1,860 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the city was 92.6% White, 0.4% African American, 1.4% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.5% of the population. One popular tourist activity is storm watching. West Coast Game Park Safari is located just south of Bandon.

Bandon is a center of cranberry production. More than 100 growers harvest about around Bandon, raising 95 percent of Oregon's cranberries, and about 5 percent of the national crop. Production averages about 30 million pounds (14 million kg) of berries. Harvest is in the fall. In 1994, were harvested—a record for Bandon. Some berries are trucked to Eugene and Albany. Others are taken to an Ocean Spray facility in Prosser, Washington, to be concentrated. This crop was introduced in 1855 by Charles McFarlin, for whom the McFarlin hybrid is named. A popular cranberry wine is made from Bandon, Oregon fruit.

The Annual Cranberry Festival takes place in the second weekend of September to celebrate the Cranberry harvest. The event draws tourists and participants from all areas of the Oregon coast, Washington and California. Begun in 1946, to honor the cranberry industry, 2023 marked the 77th year of the event. Bandon has long been known as the "Cranberry Capital of Oregon".

Between 1928 and 2000, dairy production and cheesemaking were an integral part of Bandon's economy. The Bandon facility was damaged by fire in 1936, and rebuilt as the Surfside Dairy in 1937. In 2000, Tillamook County Creamery Association bought the Bandon Cheese brand and promptly dismantled the factory; on October 4, 2005, the last of the staff was released and the Bandon factory closed. Cheesemakers handcraft gourmet cheeses from beginning to end with viewing, sampling, and products available to visitors. There is a selection of flavored cheese curds which one cheese critic received favorably. The lead cheese maker for Face Rock Creamery is the son of the lead cheese maker from Bandon Cheese Factory.

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a complex of six golf courses located just north of the city of Bandon. Five of the six golf courses are regulation length and the other is a short 13 hole par 3 course. The championship courses, Bandon Dunes, Old Macdonald, Pacific Dunes, and Bandon Trails are the top four courses in Oregon, (Passov, J., Golf Magazine, "Top 100 Courses You Can Play", Sept., 2016, p.62).