The Fine Art of
Living in Florence!
Close your eyes and picture your dream town --
the place where you would love to live, work, play or raise your family. It's
more than likely that the town in your mind resembles Florence, Oregon.
Why? It’s really simple: Florence is one of the
best places to live in the United
States.
Florence is a small town with a strong
community. It is small enough that residential neighbors know one another,
where one encounters plenty of familiar faces at the post office or in a
grocery market. It is a town where citizens voluntarily staff our fire department, work together to clear land or
another city park and raise funds for a new acute-care hospital. In Florence, we rally
together to keep the town functioning at its highest potential.
And as for potential, in Florence, it is endless. The town is a
commercial center, serving an area wide population of nearly 22,000. It is
accessible by highway, sea and air. There are department stores, a community college, a winter concert series
and a taxi service. But, one of Florence’s most attractive features is its
wide array of natural attributes. We are located on the beautiful Oregon coast and have
miles of beaches. To the north, there is a 25-mile stretch of clean sand,
driftwood, crashing surf and high promontories. Southward, the Oregon Dunes
National Recreation Area sits, 42 miles of shifting dunes, lakes and
forests make it one of the country's most popular seaside attractions.
Florence is surrounded with beautiful,
towering pine trees that extend to the doorsteps of the residential areas. Its
backdrop is the Siuslaw
National Forest, one of
the nation's most productive tree growing areas.
Florence
is also a river town. From more than one hundred miles deep within the Coastal Range,
the Siuslaw River begins a meandering trip to the
sea. About half a mile west of Florence,
new jetties have extended the river’s mouth. Two walls of massive stones extend
a quarter mile into the Pacific Ocean. This
$30 million project was done to enhance river navigation. More and more often
the traffic whistle blows, the center of the Siuslaw Bridge
raises and another fishing boat or lumber barge passes the historic riverfront
district.
There are over a
dozen fresh water lakes, which serve anglers, boaters and swimmers. All of
these features add up to a whole lot of tourism. Whether one's recreational
needs call for sand, surf, golfing, lakeshores or a deep forest, Florence has all of it
close at hand. Recently half a million dollars was spent improving a lighted
3,000 foot runway at the airport. And right down the street an Industrial and Business Park is booming.
The young and the old find Florence to be a perfect town to live in.
About 1/3 of its 8,600+ residents have chosen it as a home for their senior
years. Most of these residents are active seniors, participating in community
singing, travel clubs, nature study groups and volunteer work in government and
social services. The young also find Florence
to be an excellent place to grow up in. Florence
and the nearby community of Mapleton provide schooling for 2,000+ students.
Kids have strong groups of friends and have a myriad of activities that
surround them daily.
Florence
is also neighbors with some other quickly growing towns. Dunes
City is a few miles south of Florence; its 1,100+
residents have established homes between two of the largest coastal lakes,
Woahink and Siltcoos. For them, it's only a walk to recreational opportunities,
whether the choice is water skiing, hunting or access to dunes and ocean
beaches.
East of Florence, farther up into the Coastal Range is Mapleton. This unincorporated
community at the junction of Hwy 126 and Hwy 36, is the gateway to water sports
on the upper Siuslaw and Lake Creek. Mapleton has a small, but enthusiastic
business community, offering a surprising number of services to locals and
tourists. Many of the storefronts reflect a quaint reminder of earlier days
along the river. Thoroughly modern, on the other hand, is an indoor
Olympic-size swimming and diving facility.
Legend has it that Florence Oregon
was named after debris from a grounded French sailing vessel. A plank was
hung above the local hotel and the town became known as Florence. Play in the dunes, visit Oregon's most scenic beaches, explore Old Town,
the activities are endless in this peaceful coastal village.
The center of
community events as well as first-class entertainment, The Florence Events
Center has an amazing
variety of productions in store for you. Past performances in Florence have run the
gamut from local community theater to Helen Reddy as "Shirley
Valentine".
"Come now and
enter through a door that leads to yesteryear..." and experience our
coastal heritage at the Pioneer Museum Included are an old Indian Dugout
canoe in the center of the main floor, an old kitchen cook stove, blacksmith's
bellows, and steam engine. Old
Town Maple &
2nd Open 12:00 - 4:00, Tuesday - Sunday $3.00 fee
The Guinness Book of
World Records has recently confirmed Sea
Lion Caves
as the largest sea caves in the world. It is the only known remaining
home of wild Steller
Sea Lions on the North
American mainland. 11 miles north of Florence,
open 9:00 am to dusk, (541) 547-3111
Heceta Lighthouse at
Devil's Elbow State
Park is a popular beach and picnic area north of Florence. A
trail leads to the lighthouse and keeper's house with daily tours during the
summer and on weekends the rest of the year.
Florence is at the northern most tip of the Oregon Dunes Recreation
Area and located near some of the highest dunes. Many areas are open to
ATV's, bring your own or rent a vehicle or take a tour at Sandland Adventures.
Siuslaw River
provides anglers with some very challenging and productive Chinook salmon,
Steelhead and Sturgeon fishing throughout the year.
Dungeness crab can be found on the Siuslaw river floor just about anywhere from
the mouth of the jetty to Old Town Florence.
Also, clammers will love the bed just east of town on 126 for delicious razor
clams.
