Morrow County, Oregon

Morrow County is located in the of, on the south side of the. The is named for one of its first white settlers, Jackson L. Morrow, who was a member of the state legislature when the county was created. Half of the, which includes the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, is located within the county. In 2000, the county's population was 10,996. The of the county is.

History
Morrow County was created on, from the western portion of  and a small portion of eastern. was designated the temporary county seat at the time the county was created and narrowly defeated in the election held in 1887 to determine the permanent county seat.

Economy
The principal industries in the county today include agriculture, food processing, lumber, livestock, and recreation. The Columbia River also provides Morrow County with a number of related jobs. A coal-fired generating plant in also employs a significant number of people.

Early cattlemen found an abundance of along the creek bottoms of the region and drove their herds into the area to forage on these natural pastures. was the primary economic force in the county for many years. Increased settlement, the enclosure of the free grazing lands and diminished pastures due to overgrazing, resulted in the decline of ranching during the, and farming became predominant. The completion of rail lines into the county in increased access to markets and encouraged wheat production in the area. The advent of technology for has been a further stimulus to the local economy.

The, situated on the near the town of Boardman, was established in 1957.

The coal-fired electricity generation plant, the Boardman Turbine Coal Plant (601 megawatts), is located 14-miles southwest of the town of Boardman, and is owned by (PGE; 66%-owned and operated),  (10%),  (10%), and  (16%). There are also two -fired plants located at the Port of Morrow; Coyote Springs I (255-276 mW), owned and operated by Portland General Electric; and Coyote Springs II (241-280 mW; PGE operator), a fifty-fifty joint venture of &

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 5,307 (2,047 ). 5,263 km² (2,031 sq mi) of it is land and 43 km² (16 sq mi) of it (0.97%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * - west
 * - southwest
 * - south
 * - east
 * - north
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 10,996 people, 3,776 households, and 2,718 families residing in the county. The was 2/km² (5/sq mi). There were 4,296 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (2/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 76.27%, 0.14% or , 1.42% , 0.45% , 0.08% , 19.54% from , and 2.14% from two or more races. 24.43% of the population were or  of any race. 77.3% spoke and 22.3%  as their first language.

There were 3,776 households out of which 38.91% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.60% were living together, 8.87% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.70% were non-families. 18.13% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the county, the population was spread out with 30.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 106.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,525, and the median income for a family was $40,731. Males had a median income of $32,328 versus $22,887 for females. The for the county was $15,843. 14.80% of the population and 11.30% of families are bel0ow the. Out of the total population, 21.60% of those under the age of 18 and 10.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.