Sunday is Funday, so how about some fun facts about Oregon you probably didn’t learn in school? Which of these did you already know, if any?
1. The name of Oregon’s biggest city, Portland, was decided with a coin toss. Had the coin landed on the flip side, it would have been named Boston.
2. The popular cartoon TV series “The Simpsons” doesn’t take place in Springfield, Illinois, the setting is actually Springfield, Oregon, as creator Matt Groening finally revealed in 2012.
3. There are 159 yurts in 19 parks in Oregon. If you don’t know what a yurt is, it’s a round, portable tent structure that an increasing number of people are using as a home, though most use them for camping.
4. Oregon is home to more ghost towns than any other state in the U.S. with over 60 of them. Granite, founded in 1862, is a must-visit. Once home to 5,000 today, many of the old, abandoned buildings are still clinging to life, as you can see in the headline image.
5. One-fourth of the nation’s total llama population lives in Oregon.
6. There is actually a place in Harney County called Whorehouse Meadows, and the name was given for the very reason you’re probably thinking. It was used to gather ladies of the night together with sheep and cattle herders under a canvas tent. For a time it was called “Naughty Girl Meadows” but the name was changed back to the original moniker in 1971.
7. The very first Wiki website was created in Portland in 1994.
8. Oregon and New Jersey are the only states without self-serve gas stations.
9. The state’s birthday is on Valentine’s Day.
10. There are nine lighthouses along the Oregon coastline. Five are still being used, while the other four are designated historic monuments.
11. If you visit a pub in Portland, you can bring your dog in with you.
12. Boxing with a kangaroo is against the law in Oregon.
13. There are some 467,000 cremated individuals who’ve made Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, off the Oregon coast near Cannon Beach, their final resting place.
14. D River in Lincoln City is the shortest river in the world at just 121 feet long.
15. Portland is home to more literate residents than any other city in the U.S.
