ALBANY, OREGON

'Albany' is a city in Linn County, western Oregon, United States. It is located in the Willamette Valley and is the county seat of Linn County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 42,280 making it the 12th largest city in Oregon. The population estimate as of 2006 is 46,610.^[1]

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Economy

Education

Transportation

Mass media

Sites of interest

Notable residents

Sister cities

See also

References

External links

History

The city is located at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River.
Up until the 19th century, the area was inhabited by Kalapuya, a Penutian-speaking Native American people who lived in the middle Willamette Valley.
The Kalapuya called the area ''Takenah'', from a word describing the "deep pool where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River" (and could humorously be translated to "hole in the ground").^[2] The name may have referred to a location near the confluence of the Calapooia where the current had cut a hole near the bank.^[3] A variation of the place name can also be written as ''Tekenah''.
The first European settler inside the current city limits of Albany arrived in 1846. Albany was founded by the brothers Walter and Thomas Monteith, a family of early prominence in the area, in 1848, when they bought the claim to the townsite from squatter Hiram Smeed for $400 and a horse. They named the city "Albany", after their hometown in New York.^[4]
The Monteiths built the first house in Albany in 1849. The Monteith House was considered the finest house in Oregon at the time. They opened a general store in their parlor the same year. The first school was built in 1851, and in 1852, the first steamboat arrived and the first flour mill was built.
In 1849, the town of Takenah was established near Albany, and in 1854, the Oregon Legislative Assembly gave the name Takenah to both towns. The name Albany was restored by the legislature in 1855.
Albany post office was established on January 81850 and renamed to "New Albany" on November 41850. The name was changed back to Albany in 1853.
Although Albany replaced the community of Calapooia near Sweet Home as the county seat in 1853,Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. it was not until 1864 that Albany was incorporated as a city.
In the 1970s Albany attempted to extend its city limits to cover the land to include a zirconium processing plant of Wah Chang Corporation. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as Millersburg.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.1 square miles. 15.9 mi² of it is land and 0.2 mi² of it (1.18%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 42,280 people, 16,108 households, and 10,808 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,571.8/mi². There were 17,374 housing units at an average density of 1,093.8/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 91.68% White, 0.53% African American, 1.22% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.65% from other races, and 2.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.09% of the population.
There were 16,108 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,409, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $36,457 versus $24,480 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,570. About 9.3% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Albany is known as the "rare metals capital of the world": producing zirconium, hafnium and titanium.
Local farms grow crops that include corn, beans, mint, strawberries, hazelnuts, and grass seed.
The decline of the timber industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has left Albany with a very high unemployment rate.
In 2006 PepsiCo purchased 243 acres within the city for a planned Gatorade and Propel manufacturing plant, but the company has placed those plans on hold citing declining growth in production.^[5]

Education

Albany is the home of Linn-Benton Community College.

Transportation

Albany is adjacent to Interstate 5, while Oregon Route 99E runs through it in a north and south direction and U.S. Route 20 runs through it in an east and west direction.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Albany from its station at 10th Avenue SW on two routes. Long-haul train route the Coast Starlight (with service from Los Angeles to Seattle) stops in Albany daily in both directions. Amtrak Cascades commuter trains operate between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon, and serve Albany several times daily in both directions.
Public transportation within Albany is provided by Albany Transit System (ATS). Connections to Corvallis, Oregon are provided by bus service via the Linn-Benton Loop and the Valley Retriever Thruway inter-county bus systems. ATS, the Linn-Benton Loop, and the Valley Retriever all provide bus service to and from the Amtrak station.

Mass media

The primary media outlet is the ''Albany Democrat-Herald''.

Sites of interest

★ The Thomas and Walter Monteith House - Originally constructed near the Calapooia River, the Monteith house is one of the oldest buildings in Albany. It has been relocated twice, most recently to downtown Albany where is serves as a museum.

★ Historic Downtown Albany - Includes antique stores, restaurants, Albany Civic Theater, and one of the oldest Carnegie libraries still being used as a library. As of December 2006, a carousel was under construction. [1]

Notable residents

★ Brad Carter - Phone Losers of America

★ Daveigh Chase - actress

★ Falling Up - Christian rock band

★ Gary the Retard - Howard Stern personality

★ Dave Johnson - Olympic athlete

★ Kutless - Christian rock band

★ Mae Yih - Chinese American politician who was the first Asian American member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly

Sister cities

Albany has two sister cities^[6]:

★ Albany, Western Australia, Australia

★ Tatsuno, Japan

See also

★ Albany Parks & Recreation

References

1. PSU:Population Research Center
2. Albany Firsts
3. Oregon Geographic Names, , Lewis A., McArthur, Oregon Historical Society Press, 2003, ISBN 0-87595-277-1
4. illustrating Four Treatments in Oregon
5. Pepsi officials tell Albany new plant is on ice
6. Oregon Sister Relationships

External links

★ City of Albany

★ Albany Chamber of Commerce

★ Albany Visitors Association

★ Oregon Blue Book entry for Albany