COOS BAY

city, Coos county, southwestern Oregon, U.S., on Coos Bay (an inlet of the Pacific), adjacent to North Bend, Eastside, and the port of Charleston. Settled in 1854 by J.C. Tolman, who named it Marshfield after his hometown in Massachusetts, it developed early shipbuilding industries. A landlocked harbour, proximity to large stands of timber, and the construction of sawmills in the early 1900s made the city a major lumber-shipping port. It also processes seafood, dairy, and poultry products and is the heart of a seaside resort area. Southwestern Oregon Community College was established there in 1961. Incorporated in 1874, it was renamed Coos Bay (Coos is an Indian tribal name) in 1944 and absorbed the adjacent city of Empire in 1965. Pop. (1990) 15,076.