Editing Oregon City, Oregon (section)

== History ==
[[File:John Mix Stanley Oregon City on the Willamette River detail 1 Amon Carter Museum.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|Detail from ''Oregon City on the Willamette River'' by [[John Mix Stanley]], {{circa|1850s}} ([[Amon Carter Museum of American Art]])]]
Known in recent decades as the site of several large [[paper mill]]s on the [[Willamette River]], the city played a significant role in the early history of the [[Oregon Country]]. It was established by [[Hudson's Bay Company]]'s Dr. [[John McLoughlin]] in 1829 near the confluence of the [[Clackamas River]] with the Willamette to take advantage of the power of [[Willamette Falls]] to run a [[lumber mill]]. During the 1840s and 1850s it was the destination for those wanting to file [[Donation Land Claim Act of 1850|land claims]] after traveling the [[Oregon Trail]] as the last stop on the trail.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregoncity.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723144108/http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregoncity.html |url-status=dead |title=The Oregon Trail: Oregon City |archive-date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lewisandclarktrail.com/section4/orcities/portland/columbia%20gorge%20scenic%20highway.pdf |title=America's Byways: Historic Columbia River Highway |access-date=April 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620232320/http://lewisandclarktrail.com/section4/orcities/portland/columbia%20gorge%20scenic%20highway.pdf |archive-date=June 20, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It was the capital of the [[Oregon Territory]] from its establishment in 1848 until 1851, and rivaled [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] for early supremacy in the area. In 1846, the city's newspaper, the ''[[Oregon Spectator]]'', was the first American newspaper to be published west of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. [[Oregon City College]] was established in 1849 as a [[Baptist]] school, but was defunct by the 1870s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lange |first=Erwin F. |title=Oregon City Private Schools, 1843-59 |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |date=Dec 1936 |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=317–323 |jstor=20611017 |publisher=Oregon Historical Society }}</ref> Oregon City was the site of the [[Beaver Coins]] Mint, producing the short-lived independent Oregon Territory currency in 1849.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rare minted-in-Oregon 'beaver coin' sells for $125,000 |publisher=[[KATU]] |date=January 24, 2006 |url=http://www.katu.com/news/3646081.html |access-date=July 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010053501/http://www.katu.com/news/3646081.html |archive-date=October 10, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The center of the city retains part of its historic character through the preservation of houses and other buildings from the era of the city's founding.

=== Former Latin archdiocese ===
The town became the see city of the first [[Roman Catholic]] [[archdiocese]] in the western United States, when the diocese of Oregon City, established in 1846, was raised to [[Metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] rank, with Archbishop [[François Norbert Blanchet]] as its [[ordinary (officer)|ordinary]]. Its territory included all of the western United States. The population in the area of Oregon City declined due to the [[California Gold Rush]]. The population of nearby Portland grew, and the headquarters of the archdiocese was moved there in 1926. In 1928 the name [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon|Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon]] replaced the former name. No longer a residential bishopric, Oregon City is now a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 945</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Anthony |url=http://thetribonline.com/metro_news/story.php?story_id=124760354919257800 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411232626/http://thetribonline.com/metro_news/story.php?story_id=124760354919257800 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |title=Oregon City gets its own bishop &mdash; sort of |newspaper=The Oregon City News |date=July 14, 2009 |access-date=March 28, 2013 }}</ref>

{{Photomontage
| photo1a = Oregon City 1845 by Warre.jpg{{!}}Oregon City, circa 1845
| photo1b = Oregon_City_1849.jpg{{!}}A sketch of Oregon City, 1847
| photo1c= John Mix Stanley Oregon City on the Willamette River Amon Carter Museum.jpg{{!}}A painting of Oregon City, c. 1850–52, by John Mix Stanley
| photo2a = Oregon City and Willamette Falls, 1867.jpg{{!}}Oregon City, circa 1867
| photo2b = Willamette Locks 1888.jpg{{!}}Oregon City and Willamette Falls in 1888
| photo2c = Oregon City industrial district 1893.png{{!}}The industrial district in 1895
| size = 650
| position = center
| spacing = 10
| color = #FFF8DC
| border = 1
| color_border = grey
| text = {{center|'''Images of the evolving town of Oregon City though the 19th century'''}}
| text_background = #F3E5AB
}}