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Charleston, Oregon
Milukwich (Coos) | |
|---|---|
An evening view of the National Estuarine Research Reserve slough | |
| Coordinates: 43°20′24″N 124°19′48″W / 43.34000°N 124.33000°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Coos |
| Elevation | 102 ft (31 m) |
| Population (2000)670 | |
• Total | 795 |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 97420 |
| Area code | 541 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1136140 |
Charleston (Coos: Milukwich[2]) is an unincorporated community in Coos County, Oregon, United States. Charleston is the least populated (Pop. 795 [2017]) community in Oregon's Bay Area and is Home to a large commercial fishing fleet, it is adjacent to the ocean entrance to Coos Bay.[3] Charleston is the site of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology[4] and the United States Coast Guard Charleston Lifeboat Station.[5]
Charleston was named for Charles Haskell, a settler who filed a land claim along South Slough in 1853.[6] South Slough is an arm of Coos Bay, which it enters near the bay's mouth on the Pacific Ocean.[7] Oregon Route 540, which crosses the slough southwest of Barview, passes through Charleston and links it to three state parks further south along the coast: Sunset Bay, Shore Acres, and Cape Arago.[7]
Postal authorities established a post office in Charleston in 1924.[6] The community's ZIP code is 97420.[8]
The South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, a 4,770-acre (1,930 ha) reserve along the Coos Bay Estuary, was established in Charleston in 1974.[9] It was the first of 28 such reserves in the United States and the only one in Oregon.[9]