Umpqua County, Oregon

Umpqua County was a county located in the U.S. State of Oregon. It was created in 1851, embracing the lands along the Umpqua River in southwestern Oregon. Gold had been discovered in the Umpqua region, which brought a rapid increase of settlers to the new county. The first meeting of the Umpqua County Court was in Elkton in 1852; later the county government was moved to Green Valley and Yoncalla.

On January 7, 1852, the territorial legislature created Douglas County from the eastern part of Umpqua county. In 1853 Umpqua County lost its northern part to Lane County. Finally, in 1862, the remainder of Umpqua county was incorporated into Douglas County.

Some accounts state this was because of decreased population following the end of the local gold rush; other accounts state that politics caused the end of this Oregon County.