Talk:Coos Bay/Archive 1

Talk: Coos Bay. There are two articles with the same title. Coos Bay. This article is about the estuary, a bay off the Pacific in SW Oregon. It contains a clickable link to Coos Bay, the town. If I "search" for Coos Bay, this is the item I see. Then, yes, I can go on to click on the town of Coos Bay within the article and see that.

However, I came by the back door. Coos Bay was a link under the article Columbia River. I can't really see why it was listed. Coos Bay doesn't abut the Columbia -- it's 250 miles away. The only possible connection is that they are both in Oregon.

Clicking on the Columbia R. link "Coos Bay" brought me to the article on the town of Coos Bay. It says it's a town in Oregon. Nothing in the article says there is also a bay by that name. Ididn't seem to find any links pointing to the bay article.

However, the graphic (which is quite lovely) on the town page is of the outer Coos Bay estuary and doesn't show the town at all. It belongs in the Coos Bay item about the bay.

Moreover, although the article doesn't mention a bay by that name, and is just about the town, the time-line mixes estuary and town dates. To add to the confusion, Coos Bay (the bay) was already known by that name to the early pioneers who came to the region.

But the towns wnich sprang up on the bay were Empire, North Bend, and Marshfield. The time line of events shows things happening in "Coos Bay" (town) long before there WAS a Coos bay town.

In the 1940's(?) Marshfield decided the name of Coos Bay would be more dignified than being named after a swamp. Tbey changed their name to Coos Bay. Which caused, and still does, a lot of confusion -- is one talking about the bay, or the town? Also some anger by North Bend People, who felt they lived on Coos Bay also, but had been shut out of the use of the more important name. Later, in the 50's(?), all the towns around Coos Bay voted whether to consolidate. Empire, and a small locality known as Eastside, voted to become part of Coos Bay. But North Bend did not. So there are now 2 cities, North Bend and Coos Bay. To make matters more confusing, it's often necessary for people to determine whether they are going to visit the Empire district of Coos Bay or the main one which was the original town.

Okay, then why are the choices on the timeline? Mostly only runners know anything about a person named Prefontaine. Is he more important than any other "Coos Bay ites"? And the reference to Mt. Emily and the Japanese has nothing to do with either Coos Bay as a town or a harbor. It was many miles to the south of the hay. In Curry County, I believe.

At least the 2 articles should link to one another. I would rather see them merged into one article, with 2 fairly brief definitions at the top and then choices for the town, or the bay.

Coos Bay is an inlet off the Pacific Ocean in Southwestern Oregon. The pioneers hailed Coos Bay as the finest deep water port between San Francisco and the Columbia River.

Coos Bay is also a town in Coos County, Southwestern Oregon. It is located on the Coos Bay estuary. Originally called Marshfield, its name changed to Coos Bay in [date].

left side:Coos Bay harbor facts history time-line

right side: Coos Bay town facts history time-line

kingfisher 9-29-04   9:16 PM PST

by kingfisher 9-29-04 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.227.171.149 (talk • contribs) 04:14, September 30, 2004