Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River.
The site became known by pioneers as a fordable crossing point of the river, where it ran through a bend. An 1870s ranch popularized the name "Farewell Bend", with the post office later distinguishing the area as Bend. It was incorporated as a city in 1905, starting off as a logging town. In 1910, Mirror Pond was created as a dammed river reservoir to provide energy. In 1950, the two major logging companies were consolidated due to depleted timber, causing an economic drop. In later decades, it experienced rapid growth as a center of recreation.
Situated in the high desert, Bend is bordered by the Deschutes National Forest to the southwest. Economically, it is a tourist destination, featuring recreational attractions (e.g. breweries, an amphitheater, and the last Blockbuster video-rental store) as well as outdoor sports, including mountain biking, fishing, hiking, camping, rock climbing, white-water rafting, skiing, paragliding, and golf.
Bend is Central Oregon's most populous city. In the 2020 census, it had a population of 99,178, with the eponymous metropolitan statistical area (MSA) population totaling 247,493. This makes the city and MSA the sixth-most populous city and fifth largest metropolitan area in Oregon, respectively.
History
Early history
American Indian tribes hunted and fished in the area. In late 1824, members of a fur-trapping party led by Peter Skene Ogden visited the area. John C. Frémont, John Strong Newberry, and other United States Army survey parties came next. Subsequent American pioneers heading further west passed through the area and forded the Deschutes River at a canyonless double bend, which may have actually been referred to as "Farewell Bend". The area was settled by Euro-Americans in the 1870s. John Young Todd, a Missourian who participated in the Mexican War (and for whom Todd Lake is named), purchased a land claim in the area and named it "Farewell Bend Ranch". Todd sold this to John Sisemore in 1881, who applied for a post office in 1886. Because the name "Farewell Bend" was already in use, it was shortened to "Bend" by the United States Post Office Department.
20th century
thumb|Downtown Bend, circa 1920
thumb|[[Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Company in 1922]]
Constructed in May 1901, the Pilot Butte Development Company's little plant was the first commercial sawmill in Bend, also providing the town's first irrigation. The original location was at the rear of the Pilot Butte Inn of later years. Steidl and Reed also set up a small mill in Bend in 1903. This was on the Deschutes River just below the Pioneer Park area. The mill was operated by water power.
A small community developed around the area. In 1904, a city was incorporated by a general vote of the community's 300 residents; it was platted by Pilot Butte Development Company on May 28, 1904. In 1916, Deschutes County was formed from the western half of Crook County and Bend was designated as the county seat. In 1929, Bend amended the charter and adopted the council–manager form of government.
The 1950 closure of Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company (which was sold to Brooks-Scanlon), due to a lack of significant timber, caused the largest economic drop in the region since the Great Depression. In later decades, it experienced rapid growth as a center for both recreation and retirement.
21st century
On April 15, 2001, Utah based POWDR Corp. acquired Mt. Bachelor for ski recreation.
On August 28, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at a Safeway grocery store in Bend. Two senior citizens, one of whom was an employee at the store, were killed, and two others were wounded before the gunman committed suicide.
Geography
Bend sits on the boundary of the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills, a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and California, and the Deschutes River Valley, a Level IV ecoregion within the Blue Mountains Level III ecoregion.
The Deschutes River runs through Bend, where it is dammed to form Mirror Pond. It is reached by U.S. Route 20. A lesser known characteristic of Bend, the Horse Lava Tube System enters and borders the eastern edge of the city. Just south of Bend is Newberry National Volcanic Monument on U.S. Route 97.
Climate
Bend is often referred to locally as part of Oregon’s “high desert,” reflecting its elevation and relative dryness compared to the west side of the Cascades. In the Köppen climate classification, however, Bend has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). The city receives about of precipitation annually, considerably more than the roughly that would define a true desert at its elevation and temperature, placing it in the steppe rather than desert category.
While the city center of Bend has a cold semi-arid climate, areas immediately to the west rise quickly into the Cascades, where precipitation is much higher and the climate grades into a dry-summer continental type (Dsb).
In Bend, annual average snowfall is .
Central Oregon summers are marked by their very large diurnal temperature ranges, with a July daily average of , and an average diurnal temperature variation approaching 35 °F (20 °C).-->
Bend's growing season is short; according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Resources Conservation Service, in half of the years between 1971 and 2000, the USDA weather station in Bend recorded the last below-freezing temperatures after July 3 and the first below-freezing temperatures before August 31. Based on 1981–2010 normals, the average window for freezing temperatures is September 13 through June 19.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Monthly and Annual Average Temperatures (deg F), Bend, 1991–2020
|source 2 = Weather Atlas
Neighborhoods
There are 13 officially recognized neighborhood districts:
- Awbrey Butte
- Boyd Acres
- Century West
- Larkspur
- Mountain View
- Old Bend
- Old Farm District
- Orchard District
- River West
- Southeast Bend
- Southern Crossing
- Southwest Bend
- Summit West