Editing Gearhart, Oregon (section)

== History ==
The city is named for Phillip Gearhart, a [[settler]] who in 1848 set out from [[Independence, Missouri]], with his family and arrived in [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] in October of that year. He rented a [[log cabin]] on [[Clatsop Plains]]. At that time, other farmers had already settled primarily on the northern Plains. The first farmer to settle there was [[Solomon Smith]].  In 1851, Gearhart bought a [[squatter's right]] in the south Plains for $1,000.  He used it to create a {{Convert|640|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[donation land claim]]; the US patent was granted in 1874. Gearhart increased his holdings by {{Convert|537|acre|km2}} in 1859 through a purchase from Obadiah C. Motley, and again in 1863 by {{Convert|571|acre|km2}} purchased from Jefferson J. Louk. The entire parcel encompassed all of what is now called Gearhart, as well as a portion of Seaside across the [[Necanicum River]] estuary. Gearhart built a home and farm for his family near a [[grist mill]] by Mill Creek, in a sheltered area north and east of the estuary.<ref name="hist">{{cite web|url=http://ci.gearhart.or.us/cityhall.html|title=City of Gearhart - About the City|access-date=April 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409115124/http://www.ci.gearhart.or.us/cityhall.html|archive-date=April 9, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1889, a railroad was built between [[Astoria, Oregon|Astoria]] and [[Seaside, Oregon|Seaside]].  It became a means of transportation to Seaside not only for Astorians but for [[Portland, Oregon|Portlanders]] disembarking from the ferry in Astoria.  Gearhart began to draw attention as a pleasant landscape for wandering and [[picnic]]king. Early settlers were attracted to the Ridge Path through the dune meadows of the Phillip Gearhart land claim.<ref name="hist" />