Lane County was established Jan. 29, 1851. It was created from the southern part of Linn County and that portion of Benton
 County that was east of Umpqua County. Originally it covered all of southern Oregon east to the Rocky Mountains and south
 to the California border. It was named after the territory's first governor, Joseph Lane.

 Lane County is situated in central western Oregon. It has been vastly reduced from its original size and shifted from its
 original location by several boundary changes. One of the first changes gave it access to the Pacific Ocean when it acquired
 the northern part of Umpqua County in 1853. With the creation of Wasco County in 1854, it lost all of its territory east of the
 Cascade Mountains. Minor boundary changes occurred with Douglas County in 1852, 1885, 1903, 1915, and 1917; with
 Linn County in 1907; and with Benton County in 1923. The county currently has 4,620 square miles and is bounded by
 Lincoln, Benton, and Linn Counties to the north; Deschutes and Klamath Counties to the east; Douglas County to the south;
 and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

 When the Territorial Legislature created Lane County, it did not designate a county seat. In the 1853 election four sites
 competed for the designation. The "Mulligan donation" received a majority vote; however, since it was contiguous to the
 "Skinner claim" both became part of the new county seat known as Eugene. The city takes its name from the early pioneer
 Eugene Skinner.