Lakeside sits just east of Highway 101, but the town faces inward toward the water. North and South Tenmile Lakes, their narrow connecting canal and the surrounding forest have always mattered more here than the ocean just beyond the dunes.
The city is relatively young. The community around the lakes is much older, and its history begins long before the first streets or sawmills.
Tenmile Country Was Native Homeland First
The Tenmile Lakes area is part of the homeland of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw peoples. Families traveled by water, fished the lakes and streams, gathered plants and used the surrounding forests for generations before Euro-American settlement.
The lakes were not an empty wilderness waiting to be discovered. They were part of an established cultural landscape tied to seasonal food, travel routes and nearby coastal communities.
A Town Grew at the Edge of the Lakes
Euro-American settlement around Tenmile Lakes increased during the late 1800s. The modern Lakeside townsite developed in the early 1900s near the outlet of the lake system and the route that would later become Highway 101.
Before dependable roads, the water served as a local highway. Boats carried people, supplies, mail and building materials between homes scattered along the complicated shoreline.
Logging, Fishing and Lake Transportation
Timber shaped the early economy. Logging railroads reached into the forests, while lake boats connected camps, mills and isolated homesteads. Fishing was both work and recreation, and Tenmile’s salmon, trout and other fish were central to local life.
The community incorporated in 1924 during an early period of growth. The Oregon Coast Highway opened through the area around 1930, giving residents a faster overland connection to Reedsport, North Bend and Coos Bay.
A City With Two Incorporation Dates
Lakeside’s municipal history has an unusual break in it. The community first incorporated in 1924, but that original city government did not last. Today’s City of Lakeside dates from a new incorporation on June 26, 1974.
That makes Lakeside both an old lake community and one of the younger incorporated cities on the Oregon Coast.
Fun Fact: The Shoreline Keeps Going
North and South Tenmile Lakes are connected by a canal and together have roughly 42 miles of shoreline. Their branching arms, coves and channels make the lake system feel much larger than it appears from town.
Tenmile is also considered the largest freshwater lake on the southern Oregon Coast. Launch a boat in Lakeside and an entire maze of water opens beyond the docks.
The Lake Still Defines Lakeside
Logging is no longer the only engine of the local economy, but the water remains the center of town. Fishing tournaments, boating, kayaking, swimming and lakeside homes all follow routes that residents have used for generations.
The next time you pass Lakeside on Highway 101, look east. The highway may connect the city to the rest of Oregon, but Tenmile Lakes explain why the community is there at all.
Featured photo: “North Tenmile Lake in Oregon” by Finetooth, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
