Lane

Formed January 29, 1851 (9^th county)

Lane County (382,975), Eugene (177,195)                

A Modern steel and concrete courthouse was built in 1959 to replace the classic 1898 facility.  The courthouse is on 8^th Avenue between Park and Oak streets.  Oregon State Highway 99 is one block north of the courthouse.  Robert Wilmsen and Charles Walker Endicott provided the building designs.  A County Administrative Building was added in 1976.  There was also an 1855 courthouse in Eugene, the only county seat.  The county was created on January 29, 1851 from parts of Linn and Benton counties as the 9^th county.  Lane County is named for Territorial Governor Joseph Lane.  The county seat is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner.  Lane County is the birthplace of 1 Oregon Governor, Neil E. Goldschmidt. 

Lane County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Thirteen District Court Judges serve Lane County.  The county is in western Oregon.  The Pacific Ocean is its western border.  Portland, Oregon is north and Bend, Oregon is east of the county.  The county center is in Eugene 3.2 miles South of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Linn, Deschutes, Klamath, and Douglas counties and the Pacific Ocean and Lincoln and Benton counties. 

The area of the county is 4554 square miles.  It is 6 out of 36 in the state.  It ranks 4 out of 36 in population in the state.  It has a density of 84.1 persons per square mile making it 8 out of 36 in the state.  Lane County has 74.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 5 travels north to south from Linn County to Douglas County.  United States Highway 101 goes north to south along the coastline from Lincoln County to Douglas County.  The county resembles the head of a pelican.  Eugene is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Eugene is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 46.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.