Jefferson, Oregon, USA

Jefferson (officially City of Jefferson) is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Jefferson is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, and the second most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 5,003,456 in 2019, it is also the most populous city in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1811, Jefferson is the oldest city in the state of Oregon and was the first American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Jefferson is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean and the coastlands to the south. The city is named for Thomas Jefferson, the United States President that commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition which discovered the future location of Jefferson. Jefferson was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 30, 1876.

History
The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805–1806 at Fort Clatsop (later renamed to Fort Clark), a small log structure south of modern-day Jefferson. The expedition had hoped a ship would come by that could take them back east, but instead they endured a torturous winter of rain and cold. They later returned overland and by internal rivers, the way they had traveled west. Today the fort has been recreated and is part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

In 1811, British explorer David Thompson, the first person known to have navigated the entire length of the Columbia River, reached the partially constructed Fort Clark near the mouth of the river. He arrived two months after the Pacific Fur Company's ship, the Tonquin. The fort constructed by the Tonquin party established Jefferson as a U.S., rather than a British, settlement, became a vital post for American exploration of the continent. It was later used as an American claim in the Oregon boundary dispute with European nations.

Jefferson has a history of boom-and-bust cycles, like many other cities near areas of extensive natural and mineral resources. Jefferson has risen several times economically, then gone into precipitous decline, but it has typically used those periods to rebuild solid infrastructure.

Jefferson attracted a host of immigrants beginning in the late 19th century: Nordic settlers, primarily Swedes, Swedish speaking Finns and Chinese soon became larger parts of the population. The Nordic settlers mostly lived in Uniontown, near the present-day end of the Columbia Bridge, and took fishing and lumber jobs; the Chinese tended to do cannery work, and usually lived in bunkhouses near the cannerie in what eventually became the International District.

The first such boom, covering the early years of the city, rode on the lumber industry. During this period the road now known as Thompson Way won the nickname "Skid Road," supposedly after the timber skidding down the hill to the sawmill. The later dereliction of the area may be a possible origin for the term which later entered the wider American lexicon as Skid Row.

Like much of the American West, Jefferson saw numerous conflicts between labor and management, as well as ethnic tensions that culminated in the anti-Chinese riots of 1885–1886. This violence originated with unemployed whites who were determined to drive the Chinese from Jefferson (anti-Chinese riots also occurred in Seattle and Tacoma). In 1900, Asians were 4.2% of the population. Authorities declared martial law and federal troops arrived to put down the disorder.

Jefferson had achieved sufficient economic success that when the Great Jefferson Fire of 1889 destroyed the central business district, a far grander city-center rapidly emerged in its place. Finance company Oregon Mutual, for example, was founded in the immediate wake of the fire. However, the Panic of 1893 hit Jefferson hard.

The second and most dramatic boom resulted from the Klondike Gold Rush, which ended the depression that had begun with the Panic of 1893. In a short time, Jefferson became a major transportation center.

In 1903 a commission was formed in order to establish a development plan for the city's growing expansion. René Levine, a known electrical engineer mapped out a massive public transportation system that was the foundation of the famous Jefferson metro lines still in use today.

The Gold Rush era culminated in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, which is largely responsible for the layout of today's Proudhon University campus.

A shipbuilding boom in the early part of the 20th century became massive during World War I, making Jefferson somewhat of a military town. Jefferson was mildly prosperous in the 1920s but was particularly hard hit in the Great Depression, experiencing some of the country's harshest labor strife in that era. Violence during the Maritime Strike of 1934 cost Seattle much of its maritime traffic, which was rerouted to the Port of Jefferson.

The Great Depression in Jefferson affected many minority groups, one being the Asian Pacific Americans; they were subject to racism, loss of property, and failed claims of unemployment due to citizenship status.

A famous "Hooverville" (a shanty town built during the Great Depression) arose during the Depression, leading to Jefferson's growing homeless population. Stationed on the southside of Jefferson, the Hooverville housed thousands of men but very few children and women.

Since 1982 it has been a port of call for cruise lines, with a large pier constructed on Harbor Island.

Climate
Jefferson is tied with Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas, as the city with the highest average relative humidity in the contiguous United States. The average relative humidity in Jefferson is 89% in the morning and 73% in the afternoon.

In an average year, at least 0.37 inches (9.5 mm) of precipitation falls on 150 days, more than nearly all U.S. cities east of the Rocky Mountains.

Jefferson is cloudy 201 days out of the year and partly cloudy 93 days. Jefferson receives 56.4 in (1,430 mm) of precipitation annually.

Jefferson's temperature rarely gets above 80 °F (on average 4 afternoons a year) or below 32 °F (on average 31 mornings between January and February).

Districts (and Notable Locations)
Jefferson is broken down into distinct districts or wards.


 * Clark (Riverside)
 * Warm Springs Casino
 * Columbia Valley Hospital
 * Harbor Island
 * Hallahan Fishing Company
 * Lafayette (Downtown)
 * InfoTech Westcoast Headquarters
 * The Marquis Hotel
 * Omni Television
 * Public News Broadcasting
 * Li Qui (International)
 * Chinatown
 * Blue Lantern
 * Japantown
 * Sunburst Computers
 * Little Saigon
 * Nguyen’s Auto Service
 * Merriweather (Industrial)
 * Blackston Hall (Housing Project)
 * (The Maze)
 * The ★(Star) Club
 * Seahome (Boardwalk)
 * The Mint (a popular Jazz night club)
 * Jefferson Pier Night Market
 * Big Rock Hill Park
 * Big Rock Aquatic Centre
 * Big Rock Zoo
 * South End
 * Big Rock Prison
 * Donal's Pub
 * Meeker Park (Junkie Jungle)
 * Saint Cyprian Hospital
 * Ten Tickle Brewery
 * University Park
 * Hillstrom Academy
 * Iridium Medical
 * Proudhon University
 * Temple of Peace Cemetery
 * Trithemius College

Demographics
The 2010 census reported the city as 65.7% White Non-Hispanic, 14.1% Asian, 7.0% Black or African American, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 0.4% Native American, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 0.2% other races, and 5.6% two or more races.

Economy
Jefferson's economy is driven by a mix of older industrial companies such as fishing, lumber, and manufacturing, and "new economy" Internet and technology companies, service, design, and clean technology companies.

One of the most prevalent companies is InfoTech, a consulting firm renown for its ability to swoop into a situation, uncover false information, follow money trails, and swiftly show an organization where its weaknesses lie.

The Jefferson metropolitan area has a gross metropolitan product of $1.0 trillion (as of 2017), making it the third-largest economic metropolitan area in the world, after Tokyo and New York.

Culture
Jefferson has been a regional center for the performing arts for many years. The century-old Jefferson Symphony Orchestra has won many awards and performs primarily at Sinclair Hall.

The Thompson Theatre, built in 1926, stages Broadway-style musical shows featuring both local talent and international stars. Jefferson has "around 200" theatrical production companies and over three dozen live theatre venues, many of them associated with fringe theatre; Jefferson is second only to New York for number of equity theaters.

Between 1918 and 1951, there were nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street, running from the Lafayette District to the Li Qui District, of which only the Mint remains open.

Parks and recreation
Jefferson's mild, temperate, marine climate allows year-round outdoor recreation, including walking, cycling, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, motor boating, sailing, team sports, and swimming.

Stretching for more than 8 miles (13 km) on hillsides between the Boardwalk and Market districts, Big Rock Hill is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves. The park, a major component of a regional system of parks and trails, covers more than 5,100 acres (2,064 ha) of mostly second-growth forest with a few patches of old growth. About 70 miles (110 km) of recreational trails crisscross the park.

Government and politics
Jefferson is a charter city, with a mayor–council form of government. From 1903 to 1975, Jefferson's nine city councilors were elected at large, rather than by geographic subdivisions. From the 1981 election onward, this changed to a hybrid system of seven district members and two at-large members as a result of a ballot measure passed on November 5, 1979. The only other elected offices are the city attorney and Municipal Court judges. All city offices are officially non-partisan.

City Councilors

 * April S. Bruzgo (representing the Lafayette district)
 * Claude V.Z. Sawant (representing the Clark district)
 * Kathryn Strauss (elected at large)
 * Lorena Lewis-Yung (representing the Li Qui District)
 * Melissa Hardwick (elected at large)
 * Misha Henderson (representing the University Park district)
 * Susan L. Caricchio (representing the Seahome district)
 * Tammy Potter (representing the South End district)
 * Teresa C. Pride (representing the Harbor Island district)

Education
Of the city's population over the age of 25, 53.8% (vs. a national average of 27.4%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and 91.9% (vs. 84.5% nationally) have a high school diploma or equivalent. Jefferson Public Schools desegregated without a court order but continue to struggle to achieve racial balance in a somewhat ethnically divided city (the south part of town having more ethnic minorities than the north).

Hillstrom Academy
Hillstrom Academy is a private/independent school located in Jefferson, Oregon for grades 5–12. All courses at Hillstrom are college preparatory, and although AP courses are not offered, the majority meet or exceed the rigor and depth of the AP curriculum. Honors courses are only available in science and math. Graduation requirements include 2 years of Arts, 4 years of English, 3 years of History, 3 years in either a foreign language offered (Chinese/French/Spanish/Latin) or 2 years in two foreign languages, 3 years of Math, 2 years of Physical Education, and 2 years of Science. Additionally students are required to participate in one week of Outdoor Education before graduation and perform 80 service hours (on average 146 hours reported per student), at least 60 of which must be off-campus.

Iridium Medical School
Iridium Medical School is a research-intensive medical school. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares University Park within the University district filling the central location. Iridium Medical has consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the United States, in terms of the number of research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, among other measures.

Trithemius College
Trithemius College is a private Jesuit university in Jefferson, Oregon. Trithemius has a 50-acre (200,000 m2) campus in the south of University Park. offers 61 bachelor's degree programs, 31 graduate degree programs, and 27 certificate programs, plus law school and a doctoral program in education. The university consists of nine colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business and Economics, the College of Education, the School of Law, College of Leadership, the College of Nursing, the College of Science and Engineering, the School of New and Continuing Studies, and the School of Theology and Ministry.

University of Proudhon
The University of Proudhon is a public research university in Jefferson, Oregon. Proudhon is rated at No. 11 in the world, tied with Johns Hopkins University. Founded in 1861, Proudhon is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in downtown Jefferson with the goal of aiding its economic development. Today, the university's 703-acre main campus is in the University District taking up the north section of University Park.

Media

 * Omni Television:
 * Public News Broadcasting

Infrastructure
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Health systems

 * Columbia Valley Hospital
 * Iridium Medical
 * Saint Cyprian Hospital

Transportation
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Utilities
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Notable people
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City Themes

 * All cops are on the take.
 * Low ranking government employees are all underpaid.
 * The homeless are ignored by the masses.
 * Unions strike often.
 * Everyone is pompous in University Park and the Market District.
 * Gang violence is constant within the International and South End districts.
 * Everyone is poor and prejudiced in Riverside and South End.
 * It is hard for newcomers to make friends.
 * Trithemius College has a dark past.
 * Don't walk through Big Rock Hill Park alone at night.
 * There are always weirdos at the Night Market.
 * There is always drug use in public toilets.
 * The Marquis is the most protected place in the city.
 * Each member of the city council is influenced by a different interest group.