Corvallis is a
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
located in central western
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. It is the
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
of
Benton CountyBenton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator who advocated U.S. control over the Oregon Country. In 2000, the county's population was 78,153. It is coextensive with the Corvallis Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and the principal city of the "Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Benton County. The population was estimated at 51,110 in 2008 by the United States Census Bureau,, though other research supports the estimate of nearly 55,000 used by the city itself in 2008.
History
Joseph C. AveryJoseph Conant Avery was the founder of Corvallis, Oregon, United States. Avery was the first postmaster for the community, and served as a legislator in the Provisional Government of Oregon and the government of the Oregon Territory.-Early life:...
settled a land claim at the mouth of
Marys RiverMarys River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source at the confluence of its east and west forks near Summit, it flows generally southeast from the Central Oregon Coast Range to Corvallis. The West Fork Marys River, which is long, rises at and flows...
where it flows into the
Willamette RiverThe Willamette River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The name of the river derived from the French pronunciation of the name of a Clackamas Indian village. The river is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
in 1845. In 1849, Avery opened a store at the site, platted the land, and surveyed a town site on his land claim, naming the community Marysville.
It is possible that the city was named after early settler Mary Lloyd, but now the name is thought to be derived from French fur trappers' naming of a
local peakMarys Peak is a mountain in Benton County, Oregon, United States, just southwest of Philomath. It is the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range...
after the
Virgin MaryMary , usually referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Muslims also refer to her as the Virgin Mary or Syeda Mariam which means Our Lady Mary...
.
In 1853, the
legislative assemblyOregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...
changed the city's name to Corvallis, from the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
phrase
cor vallis, meaning "heart of the valley." Corvallis was incorporated as a city on January 29, 1857. The town served briefly as the
capitalThe Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. The current building, constructed from 1936 to 1938, and expanded in 1977, is the third...
of the
Oregon TerritoryThe Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon.-History:...
in 1855 before
SalemSalem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
was eventually selected as the permanent seat of state government.
Geography
Corvallis is located at an elevation of 235 feet. Situated midway in the
Willamette ValleyThe Willamette Valley is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its emergence from mountains near Eugene to its confluence with the Columbia River at Portland. A small part of the Willamette Valley ecoregion is in...
, Corvallis is about east of
NewportNewport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868...
and the Oregon Coast, south of
PortlandPortland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...
, south of the state capital,
SalemSalem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
, southwest of
AlbanyAlbany is a city in Benton and Linn Counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the Willamette Valley and is the county seat of Linn County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40,852. As of 2007, Albany was the 11th largest city in Oregon...
, about west of
Interstate 5In the U.S. state of Oregon, Interstate 5 traverses across the state, passing through the major cities of Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Medford.-Route description:...
at its closest point, and north of
EugeneEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. State of Oregon and the county seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles east of the Oregon Coast...
/
SpringfieldSpringfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States, separated from Eugene, Oregon primarily by the I-5 highway. Springfield was named after a natural spring located in a field or prairie within the current city boundaries. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 52,864...
. Oregon Route 99W, a secondary north-south route, also runs through Corvallis. Oregon Route 20 (which leads to
NewportNewport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868...
) and Oregon Route 34 (which leads to
WaldportWaldport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,050 at the 2000 census. The city is located on the Alsea River and Alsea Bay, south of Newport and north of Yachats.-Geography:...
about 56 miles to the west) both secondary East-West routes run through Corvallis from the Oregon Coast.
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of 13.8 square miles (35.7 km²), of which, 13.6 square miles (35.2 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it is
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
. The total area is 1.23% water.
Demographics
Corvallis is the largest principal city of the Albany-Corvallis-Lebanon CSA, a
Combined Statistical AreaThe United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
that includes the
Corvallis metropolitan areaBenton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator who advocated U.S. control over the Oregon Country. In 2000, the county's population was 78,153. It is coextensive with the Corvallis Metropolitan Statistical Area...
(Benton County) and the
Albany-Lebanon micropolitan areaLinn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. In 2000, its population was 103,069; by 2008, it was estimated to be 115,348 by the U.S. Census Bureau...
(
Linn CountyLinn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. In 2000, its population was 103,069; by 2008, it was estimated to be 115,348 by the U.S. Census Bureau...
), which had a combined population of 181,222 at the
2000 censusThe Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 49,322 people, 19,630 households, and 9,972 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 3,625.6 people per square mile (1,400.2/km²). There were 20,909 housing units at an average density of 1,537.0/sq mi (593.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.03% White, 1.16% Black or
African AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.76% Native American, 6.42% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 2.52% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.82% from two or more races. 5.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 19,630 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.2% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 28.4% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,236, and the median income for a family was $53,208. Males had a median income of $40,770 versus $29,390 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was $19,317. About 9.7% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
Green Power
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency report on its “green power communities,” Corvallis buys more power from renewable resources than any other city in the nation. Corvallis purchases more than 100 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which amounts to 13 percent of the city’s total purchased electricity.
Religion
- A 2003 study, released once every 10 years, listed Benton County (of which Corvallis makes up the majority of the population) as the least religious county per capita in the United States. Only 1 in 4 people indicated that they were affiliated with one of the 149 religious groups the study identified. The study indicated that some of the disparity, however, may be attributed to the popularity of less traditional religions (ones not included as an option in the study) in the Pacific Northwest.
Economy
The campus of
Oregon State UniversityOregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...
, which is the major local employer, is located near the edge of the main downtown area. Other major employers include: Samaritan Health Services,
Agilent TechnologiesAgilent Technologies , or Agilent, is a company which designs and manufactures instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation. The company's headquarters are in Santa Clara, California....
, AVI BioPharma,
CH2M HILLCH2M HILL is a global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services for corporations, nonprofits, and federal, state, and local governments. The firm is headquartered in Meridian, an unincorporated area of Douglas County, Colorado in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area...
, Siga Technologies, Evanite Fiber, ONAMI as well as
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. HP has its United States offices at the former old Compaq Campus in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Latin America offices in Miami-Dade County, Florida,...
, whose
printerIn computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a hard copy of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most newer printers, a USB...
cartridge manufacturing and prototyping facility is located in the northeast area of town. Because of this relative concentration of employment and the need for diversity, the city launched a website to attract creative industry to the region by branding it with the slogan "Business is Good Here".
Corvallis, Oregon was ranked #48 on the 100 best places in the USA to live and launch a business by Fortune Small Business 2008. This places Corvallis in the second best place in Oregon to launch a business.
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the state of Oregon. As of July 2008, it has an estimated population of 575,930, making it the 29th most populous in the United States. It has been referred to as the most...
(#6);
Bend, OregonBend is the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population density of that...
(#87) and
Eugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. State of Oregon and the county seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles east of the Oregon Coast...
(#96) are ranked on the top 100, respectively.
Annual cultural events
- da Vinci Days and the annual kinetic sculpture race
A Kinetic sculpture race is an organized contest of human-powered amphibious all-terrain works of art. The original event, the Kinetic Grand Championship in Humboldt County, California, is also called the "Triathlon of the Art World" because art and engineering are combined with physical...
- Corvallis Fall Festival: An Arts Celebration. 37th Annual in 2009http://corvallisfallfestival.org/
Museums and other points of interest
- Benton County Courthouse
- Hesthavn Nature Center of the Audubon Society of Corvallis
- McDonald Research Forest
- Peavy Arboretum
Peavy Arboretum is an arboretum operated by Oregon State University and located on Arboretum Road, Corvallis, Oregon. It is open to the public daily without charge....
Parks and recreation
The city has at least 47 public parks within and adjacent to the city limits. Some of them are:
- Alan Berg Park located east of the Willamette River, south of highway 34
- Arnold Park located at NW Harrison Blvd and NW Merrie Dr.
- Avery Park located at SW 15th and SW Avery Park Dr.
- Bald Hill Park located off NW Oak Creek Dr. (behind the Benton County Fairgrounds)
- Bruce Starker Arts Park & Amphitheater located on SW 45th St. off SW Country Club Dr.
- BMX Tracklocated at Highway 99W and Chapman Place
- Central Park located at SW 6th and NW Monroe Ave.
- Chepenefa Springs Park located at the end of NW Daylilly Ave.
- Chintimini Park located at NW 27th St. and NW Tyler Ave.
- Chip Ross Park located at the end of NW Lester Ave.
- Cloverland Park located at NW 29th Street and NW Garfield Ave.
- Corl House 3975 NW Witham Hill Dr.
- Eric Scott McKinley Skate Park located at SW 1st St. and SW B Ave. under Oregon Highway 20/34 Underpass
- Crystal Lakes Sports Fields & Kendall Natural Area located at the end of Fisher Lane off SE Crystal Lake Dr.
- Forest Dell Park located at NW Highland Dr. and NW Highland Dell Dr.
- Franklin Square Park located at NW 15th St. and NW Taylor Ave.
- Garfield Park located at NW 11th St. and NW Cleveland Ave.
- Riverfront Commemorative Park
Education
Corvallis has a higher education rate per capita than any other city in the State of Oregon.
Public schools in the city are administered by the
Corvallis School DistrictThe Corvallis School District is a school district serving the city and surrounding area of Corvallis, Oregon, United States. As of 2007, the district had 6,748 students at two high schools, two middle schools, eight elementary schools, and one alternative school...
. Corvallis is also the home of
Oregon State UniversityOregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...
, and the Benton Center campus for
Linn-Benton Community CollegeLinn-Benton Community College is a two year junior college, located in Linn County, Oregon.-Accreditation:LBCC is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities...
.
Media
- Corvallis Gazette-Times
The Corvallis Gazette-Times is a daily newspaper in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The newspaper, along with its sister publication, the Albany Democrat-Herald is owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa...
, daily newspaper
- The Alchemist, an alternative weekly focusing on art, music, and entertainment from reader contributions for content
Bus
Long-distance bus service is provided by both
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
and
GreyhoundGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, USA, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States and Canada, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and incorporated...
. They both stop at the Greyhound station in downtown Corvallis (station ID: CVI.)
Local bus service is provided by Corvallis Transit System (CTS). The system runs a total of eight daytime routes Monday through Saturday, covering most of the city and converging at a Downtown Transit Center. Additional commuter routes also run in the early morning and late afternoon on weekdays, and mid-morning and mid-afternoon on Saturdays. When Oregon State University is in session CTS also runs the "Beaver Bus," a set of late-night routes running Thursday through Saturday.
Two other short-distance inter-city buses — the Linn-Benton Loop (to Albany), and the Philomath Connection, also stop at the Downtown Transit Center.
Bicycle
Designated a "Bike-Friendly City," Corvallis has many miles of bike paths, trails, and roadside bicycle lanes. The bulk of the city is also very flat lending itself even moreso to sight-seeing cycling. Many miles of mountain bike trails, ranging from easy to very technical, abound in the outskirts of the city, with the highest concentration present in the Oregon State University research forest (
MacDonald and Dunn forests).
Water
The city's water system contains two water treatment plants, nine processed water reservoirs, one raw water reservoir, and some of pipe. The system can process up to about 19 million gallons of water per day.
The Rock Creek treatment plant processes water from sources in the Rock Creek Municipal Watershed near
Marys PeakMarys Peak is a mountain in Benton County, Oregon, United States, just southwest of Philomath. It is the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range...
. The three sources are surface streams which are all tributaries of the
Marys RiverMarys River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source at the confluence of its east and west forks near Summit, it flows generally southeast from the Central Oregon Coast Range to Corvallis. The West Fork Marys River, which is long, rises at and flows...
. Rock Creek has a processing capacity of 7 million gallons of water per day (gpd), though operational characteristics of the , pipeline to the city limits capacity to half that. The Rock Creek Plant output remains steady year round at about 3 million gpd.
The H.D. Taylor treatment plant obtains water from the
Willamette RiverThe Willamette River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The name of the river derived from the French pronunciation of the name of a Clackamas Indian village. The river is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
, and has been expanded at least four times since it was first constructed in 1949. Its output varies seasonally according to demand, producing from 2 to 16 million gallons per day, though it has a capacity of 21 million gpd.
The total reservoir capacity is 21 million gallons, though measures to voluntarily reduce water usage begin when reservoir levels fall below 90% of capacity, and become mandatory at 80% or below. As part of its ongoing water conservation program, the water department jointly publishes a guide to water-efficient garden plants.
Notable residents
- This list excludes persons whose only connection to Corvallis is attendance or employment at Oregon State University.
- Amadan
Amadan, originally based in Corvallis, Oregon , plays both punk and world music. They are often categorized as a Celtic punk band due to their Irish influences...
, Irish musicIrish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the entire island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalising cultural forces...
band
- Brad Badger
Bradley Thomas Badger is an American football guard and tackle who is currently a free agent. He was originally drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL Draft...
, NFL player
- Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is a two-time Academy Award-winning American director. His best known works are Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille . He also adapted and directed the critically-acclaimed 2-D hand-animated 1999 Warner Bros. film The Iron Giant...
, animator, writer, and director (The IncrediblesThe Incredibles is a 2004 computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons. It stars an ensemble cast including Holly Hunter, Craig T....
, The Iron GiantThe Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Brad Bird directed the film, which stars a voice cast of Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes, as well as Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel,...
, RatatouilleRatatouille is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise.- Origin :...
)
- Chris Botti
Christopher Stephen Botti or Chris Botti [BOH-tee] is an American trumpeter and composer. Botti has been nominated for two Grammy Awards...
, jazz trumpet musician
- Kevin Boss
Kevin Boss is an American football tight end who currently plays for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Boss, who resides in Philomath, Oregon during the offseason, graduated in December 2006 from Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon, with a degree in physical education...
, NFL player for the New York Giants
- Meredith Brooks
Meredith Ann Brooks is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. She is best known for her 1997 hit song "Bitch", for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award.- Early life :...
, singer, songwriter, and producer
- James Cassidy, member of the band Information Society
Information Society is a U.S. band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, primarily consisting of Kurt Larson , Paul Robb, and James Cassidy; the latter two reconvened the band in 2006, initially with Christopher Anton as lead vocalist, then with Harland rejoining them as lead vocalist in 2007...
- Randy Couture
Randy Duane Couture is an American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor and a 3 time former heavyweight champion and 2 time light-heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
, mixed martial artistMixed martial arts is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground...
and UFCThe Ultimate Fighting Championship is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC; Zuffa, LLC, controlled by the casino-moguls Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, owns it....
Hall of Fame member
- Edmund Creffield
Edmund Creffield was known for establishing the Christian cult he named the Bride of Christ Church, sometimes referred to as the "Holy Rollers" in Corvallis, Oregon in 1903...
, founder of the 'Bride of Christ Church' also known as the 'Holy Rollers'
- Dick Fosbury
Richard Douglas "Dick" Fosbury is a former track and field athlete who revolutionized the high jump event, using a back-first technique, now known as the Fosbury Flop. His method was to sprint diagonally towards the bar, then curve and leap backwards over the bar...
, 1968 Summer OlympicsThe 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
gold medalist and innovator of the modern back-first method of high jumping
- Bob Gilder
Robert Bryan Gilder is an American professional golfer. He won six tournaments in his PGA Tour career and currently plays on the Champions Tour where he has nine wins.-Biography:...
, American professional golfer and currently a member of the Champions TourThe Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
- Gordon Gilkey
Gordon Waverly Gilkey was an American artist, educator, and promoter of the arts from Oregon. A native Oregonian, he served during World War II in Europe collecting art stolen by the Nazis for which he was award the Meritorious Service Medal and other accolades...
, artist and educator
- Kevin Gregg
Kevin Marschall Gregg is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.-High school career:Gregg attended Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon, and starred in football, basketball, and baseball....
, MLB player
- Les Gutches
Les Gutches is an American former amateur wrestler and coach. His accomplishments include winning the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler in 1996, becoming the National Collegiate Athletic Association champion in the 177 lb...
, Olympic Wrestler, World Champion
- Eyvind Kang
Eyvind Kang is an American composer, violinist, tuba, and erhu player. He was raised in Canada and the United States, and has since lived and worked in countries ranging from Italy to Iceland....
, violinist and composer
- Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.-Early life:Krakauer was born in Brookline, Massachusetts as the third of five children and was raised in Corvallis, Oregon from the age of two. His father introduced him to mountaineering as...
, author (Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, etc) and mountaineer
- Wayne Krantz
Wayne Krantz is an innovative American musician, who is widely recognized as a technically advanced jazz fusion guitarist....
, guitarist
- Jane Lubchenco
Dr. Jane Lubchenco is an American environmental scientist and marine ecologist. On March 19, 2009, she was confirmed by the U.S...
, marine biologist, named in 2009 to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
- Bernard Malamud
Bernard Malamud was an author of novels and short stories. Along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, he was one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century...
, author, the setting for whose book A New Life was based on Corvallis
- Ralph Miller
Ralph H. Miller was a college men's basketball coach. The Chanute, Kansas native coached at the University of Wichita , the University of Iowa and Oregon State University , compiling a 657-382 overall record in 38 seasons combined. He was enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on...
, basketball coach, enshrined in the Basketball Hall of FameThe Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honors exceptional basketball players, all-time great coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game.Named after basketball inventor Dr...
- Deane Ogden
Deane Ogden is an American drummer and composer. Ogden has drummed for many pop music artists, including Sheryl Crow, Seal, Dido, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Hall & Oates, Usher, Michelle Branch, Rihanna, Joss Stone, Corinne Bailey Rae, Eve, Al Green, and Jewel.As an award-winning film...
, film composer
- Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists in any field of the 20th century. Pauling was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum...
, 1954 Nobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
and 1962 Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
recipient (Graduated from Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State UniversityOregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are over 200 academic degree programs offered through the university...
)
- Jason Reed
Jason "JR" Reed , is an American actor and musician, originally from Corvallis, Oregon. He grew up in Las Vegas, NV where he graduated from Bonanza High School...
, actor, musician
- Harold Reynolds
Harold Craig Reynolds is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. Reynolds spent the first 10 years of his professional career in the majors with the Seattle Mariners from to...
, former MLB player and former ESPN broadcaster
- Mike Riley
Michael Joseph Riley is an American football coach and the current head coach of the Oregon State Beavers. Riley has also coached in several professional leagues, and is a former head coach of the San Diego Chargers of the NFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League .-Early...
, former NFL head coach (San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are an American Professional Football team based in San Diego, California. They are currently members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League...
), currently the Oregon State BeaversThe Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University, a university located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers are part of the Pacific-10 Conference . Oregon State's mascot is Benny Beaver...
head football coach
- Craig Robinson
Craig Phillip Robinson is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known for his roles in Pineapple Express as the assassin Matheson, The Office as Darryl Philbin and Zack and Miri Make a Porno as Delaney....
currently the Oregon State BeaversThe Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University, a university located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers are part of the Pacific-10 Conference . Oregon State's mascot is Benny Beaver...
head basketball coach and brother-in-law of U.S. President Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
- Jordan Smotherman
Jordan LaVallée Smotherman is an American hockey player under contract to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League . Has played the past two seasons in the American Hockey League with the Chicago Wolves...
, NHL prospect for the Atlanta ThrashersThe Atlanta Thrashers are a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since the team's inception, their home games have been played at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta...
- Robb Thomas
Robb Douglas Thomas is a former American football wide receiver in the NFL who played from 1989 to 1998.-High school career:...
, former NFL player
- Ernest H. Wiegand
Ernest H. Wiegand was a professor of horticulture at Oregon State University who, in 1925 during prohibition, developed a brine method that led to the modern maraschino cherry. He won the Nicholas Appert Award in 1960...
, professor of horticultureHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
and developer of the modern method of manufacture of the maraschino cherryA maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution usually containing sulfur dioxide or alcohol, then soaked in a suspension of food coloring...
.
- Carl Wieman
Carl Edwin Wieman is an American physicist at the University of British Columbia and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his production in 1995 with Eric Allin Cornell, the first true Bose-Einstein condensate.-Biography:...
, 2001 Nobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Prize in literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
recipient for creation of the Bose-Einstein Condensate
- Dan Williams
Daniel Lawrence "Dan" Williams is a former professional baseball player and the current bullpen catcher for the Cleveland Indians. He has been a player or coach in the Indians system since 1988...
, former MLB player & current assistant MLB coach with the Cleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field . The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
- The W's
The W's were a Christian ska/swing band, formed in Corvallis, Oregon in 1996. Success came quickly to the band and their first album, Fourth from the Last 1998, had the strongest debut of any Christian album to date for its distributor. They toured the United States several times with a variety of...
, 1990s swing revivalThe Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
band
- Mike Zandofsky
Michael Leslie Zandofsky is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League.-Early life:...
, former NFL player
Rankings and recognition
- OSU named "Safest Pac-10 Campus" (University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA...
study, 1994.)
- Corvallis named "One of the 13 best towns to be a vegetarian" (Vegan Magazine study, 1995.)
- An article in Parade magazine
Parade is a national Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 400 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in America, Parade has a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 71 million.-Publishing...
rated Corvallis as "One of the 10 best cities in which to live" (1996).
- Corvallis School District named one of the top public school systems in the country (Offspring Magazine, 2000.)
- Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
The Corvallis-Benton County Public Library is a public library located in Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. The library's vision statement is Bringing people and information together. It is part of a city-county system with branches in Alsea, Monroe, and Philomath as well as a bookmobile.It has been listed...
named one of top ten libraries in the country based on population size (Hennen's American Public Library Ratings study, 2002.)
- Corvallis ranked fourth in nation for the highest number of patents issued by city (USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth...
, 2002.)
- Corvallis ranked 7th out of about 500 U.S. cities for best places to do business (BizDemographics, 2002.)
- The Bicycle Transportation Alliance
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is a 501 non-profit bicycle advocacy organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The BTA promotes bicycling and the improvement of bicycling conditions in Oregon and southwest Washington through advocacy, programs and events. The BTA has a membership...
ranked Corvallis as Oregon's most bicycle-friendly city (2002).
- The Orange County Register picked Corvallis' Oregon State University as the "Best Pac-10 Campus" (2002).
- The National Arbor Day Foundation
Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Arbor Day originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States and is celebrated in a number of countries.It was founded officially by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska in 1872...
awarded Corvallis a Tree City USA Award in 2002. They also awarded Corvallis the Tree City USA Growth Award in 2003.
- Bike USA listed Corvallis as the 9th most bicycle-friendly city in the nation.
- The League of American Bicyclists
The League of American Bicyclists is a non-profit membership organization which promotes cycling for fun, fitness and transportation through advocacy and education....
gave Corvallis a gold "Bicycle-Friendly Community" designation in May 2003, one of only four such cities in the nation as of 2006.
- Frommer's Travel Guides, Cities Ranked & Rated ranks Corvallis as the 10th best city of any size in the United States and Canada.
- The February 2004 issue of the Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
ranks Corvallis as the 15th most creative city in the nation.
- Bike at Work listed Corvallis as the 9th best city in the nation "As a car free community" (2005).
- Men's Journal
Men's Journal is an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and "gear". The magazine has a circulation of 700,000...
ranked Corvallis as "The 8th best place in the nation to live" in 2003. In April 2005, they moved Corvallis up one place to 7th.
- Expansion Management selected Corvallis as a "Five-Star Knowledge Worker Metro", the highest rating achievable (2005).
- A survey by the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
found Corvallis ranks second in the nation for the number of scientists as a percentage of total employment (12.7 percent) as of 2006.
- Corvallis was the first city on the West Coast and only the third city in the nation to receive the "Green Power Community" designation by the EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land...
(2006).
- In 2006, the Morgan Quitno Awards
Morgan Quitno Press is a research and publishing company based in Lawrence, Kansas. They compile books with statistics of crime rates, health care, education, and other categories, ranking cities and states in the United States...
ranked Corvallis as the 20th safest city (of 344) in the 13th Annual America's Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities publication for metropolitan areas of its size.
- In a 2007 report, Farmer's Insurance Group ranked Corvallis as the "most secure" small city in America, based on (as reported by Insurance Journal magazine) crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, environmental hazards, terrorism threats, air quality, life expectancy and job loss numbers.
- On February 18, 2008, Corvallis was named the fifth smartest city in America by Forbes Online Magazine.
- A September 2008 report revealed that Benton County, of which Corvallis makes up the majority of the population, is ranked 5th for longest life expectancy at birth of all counties in the United States, at 80.93 years.
Notable works of fiction
- In Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austrian-American journalist, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's 1944 film noir Double Indemnity, the character of Mr. Jackson, played by Porter HallPorter Hall was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s...
, is from Medford, OregonMedford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of 2008, the city had a total population of 76,850 and a metropolitan area population of 202,310...
, but mentions Corvallis in this line to Walter Neff (Fred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a highly successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, starting in 1930 and extending into the 1970s.MacMurray is well known for his role in the 1944 film noir Double...
): "It's the name! There's a family of Neffs in Corvallis!" Walter Neff replies, "No relation", to which Mr. Jackson says, "Let me see, this man's an automobile dealer in Corvallis. A very reputable man too I'm told."
- Corvallis plays a major role in The Postman
The Postman is a post-apocalyptic novel by David Brin. A drifter stumbles across the uniform of an old United States Postal Service letter carrier and gives hope to a community threatened by local warlords with empty promises of aid from the "Restored United States of America". The first two parts...
, in which it is depicted as the center of rebuilding civilization in post-apocalyptic Oregon, due to the university, logistics, and favorable wind patterns, which render it capable of surviving nuclear war.
- Corvallis plays a major role in S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author.Stirling is probably best-known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series...
's "EmberverseThe Emberverse series, or the Change World, is a set of alternate history, post-apocalyptic novels written by S. M. Stirling. The novels focus on the events after "The Change", which caused electricity, guns, explosives, internal combustion engines and steam power to stop working. Most of the...
" series. It's one of the few cities to come through the Change with many survivors, and with some sort of governing infrastructure remaining from the old world. The town's name is used in the title of the third book, A Meeting at CorvallisA Meeting at Corvallis is a 2006 science fiction novel by S. M. Stirling. It is third novel in the Emberverse series that began with Dies the Fire.-Plot Introduction:...
- Corvallis was the inspiration for "Cascadia" in the Bernard Malamud
Bernard Malamud was an author of novels and short stories. Along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, he was one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century...
novel, A New Life
- In Adrian Tomine
Adrian Tomine , a popular contemporary cartoonist, is best known for his ongoing graphic novel series Optic Nerve and his periodical illustrations in The New Yorker....
's graphic novel Shortcomings, Ben Tanaka, who struggles with his Asian-American identity, is from Corvallis, Oregon.
Sister cities
Corvallis has two sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities InternationalSister Cities International is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and fostering sister cities, especially between cities in the United States and cities in other countries....
:
GondarGondar or Gonder is a city in Ethiopia, which was once the old imperial capital and capital of the historic Begemder province. As a result, the old province of Begemder is sometimes referred to as Gondar...
,
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
UzhhorodUzhhorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
External links