Warrenton
The City of Warrenton, Oregon has grown from a sleepy fishing village to a major retail center on the Oregon Coast in recent years. The City of Warrenton was incorporated in 1899 and has since grown to include the communities of Hammond and Fort Stevens, and has a population of about 4,000. Much of the original city has built on reclaimed tide flats and is actually below sea-level, protected by the miles of dikes surrounding the town. The original settlement of Warrenton was called Lexington (established in 1848) and served as the county seat for many years.
Warrenton's downtown district has a number of retail shops, restaurants, a post office, City Hall, the fire station and two gas stations on Main Street (yes, it's really called Main Street). There's also several motels in Warrenton, although they are located just outside the downtown area. Hwy 101 runs North and South through Warrenton, and has been the fastest growing area for commercial development in the county. The Youngs Bay Plaza was the first retail center in the city, and now includes a Rite-Aid, Ross, AT&T Wireless, Subway, Starbucks and other retail stores. Shortly after another retail development sprang up immediately North on Youngs Bay to include a Shilo Inn, Walgreen's, and a number of retail spaces in the Premarq Center. During the 1990's a Fred Meyer store was built to the South of the plaza and was followed shortly by a Costco. Recently even more commercial development has begun further South, starting with two car dealerships and a Home Depot. A larger Costco store opened recently, and future plans for the North Coast Business Park include several more retail spaces and restaurants.
Residential development outside of the originally platted city blocks followed the commercial projects and in the last decade the neighborhoods of Hidden Estates, Battery Russell (Peacock St), Forest Rim, The Orchard, Juniper Ridge, Long Lake Estates, Spruce Grove and many other smaller plats have been built out.
Warrenton includes two marina's which serve as home port for the large fishing fleet that calls Warrenton home, supplying several of the local canneries and fish markets with locally caught fish and seafood. The commercial fishing fleet has become smaller in recent years but the popular Buoy 10 salmon fishing supports many local sport fishing guides and has kept Warrenton on the map as a popular fishing destination. Warrenton also includes miles of Pacific Ocean beaches that are popular for razor clam digging, as well as dungeness crab and sturgeon fishing in the Columbia River.
Warrenton includes many parks, the largest and most visited is Fort Stevens State Park. The Fort Stevens Park System includes the Peter Iredale shipwreck, historic Fort Stevens military installation, several wildlife viewing areas, Coffenbury Lake, year round campground and access to both the ocean and river beaches. Other area parks include the Warrenton dog park, Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park, Skipanon River Park, Warrenton City Community Park & Community Center, Seafarers' Park, and the Warrenton Soccer Fields.
The Warrenton-Hammond School District includes the Warrenton High and Warrenton Grade Schools (K-8).