Editing Lincoln County, Oregon (section)

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2008}}
Lincoln County was created by the [[Oregon Legislative Assembly]] on February 20, 1893, from the western portion of [[Benton County, Oregon|Benton]] and [[Polk County, Oregon|Polk]] counties. The county adjusted its boundaries in 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, and 1949.

At the time of the county's creation, [[Toledo, Oregon|Toledo]] was picked as the temporary county seat. In 1896 it was chosen as the permanent county seat. Three elections were held to determine if the county seat should be moved from Toledo to [[Newport, Oregon|Newport]]. Twice these votes failed—in 1928 and 1938. In 1954, however, the vote went in Newport's favor. While Toledo has remained the industrial hub of Lincoln County, the city has never regained the position it once had.

Like [[Tillamook County, Oregon|Tillamook County]] to the north, for the first decades of its existence Lincoln County was isolated from the rest of the state. This was solved with the construction of [[U.S. Route 101 in Oregon|U.S. Route 101]] (completed in 1925), and the [[Salmon River Highway]] (completed in 1930). In 1936, as some of many federally funded construction projects during the [[Great Depression]], bridges were constructed across the bays at Waldport, Newport, and Siletz, eliminating the ferries needed to cross these bays.

The northern part of Lincoln County includes the [[Siletz Reservation]], created by treaty in 1855. The reservation was open to non-Indian settlement between 1895 and 1925. The [[Confederated Tribes of Siletz|Siletz]]'s tribal status was terminated by the federal government in 1954, but in 1977 it became the first Oregon tribe to have its tribal status reinstated. The current reservation totals {{convert|3,666|acre|km2}}.

In 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Lincoln County issued a face mask directive which exempted "people of color". After county officials were overwhelmed with criticism, the exemption was rescinded.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Erin |date=June 28, 2020 |title=How Internet Outrage Led to A Change In Lincoln County's Face Mask Policy |url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/lincoln-county-face-mask-internet-media-outrage/ |work=OPB}}</ref>