Lane County comprises the Eugene, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[6] Originally it covered all of southern Oregon east to the Cascade Mountains and south to the California border.

In the 1853 election, four sites competed for the designation, of which the "Mulligan donation" received a majority vote; however, since it was contiguous to the "Skinner claim" both became part of the new county seat known as Eugene.

In 1846, Elijah Bristow and his wife, the former Susannah Gabbart, had become the first white settlers to build a claim cabin within the present-day boundaries of Lane County, near Pleasant Hill.

They had crossed the plains to California in the previous year, and came north with Eugene F. Skinner, Captain Felix Scott, and William Dodson.

"[8] In 1852, John Diamond and William Macy led an exploration party to survey a shortcut for the Oregon Trail across the Cascade Range.

The emigrants of this wagon train doubled the population of Lane County in 1853.

One of the first changes gave it access to the Pacific Ocean, when it acquired the northern part of Umpqua County in 1853.

With the creation of Wasco County in 1854, it lost all of its territory east of the Cascade Mountains.

The current commissioners are: In presidential elections from the 1950s through the 70s, Lane County mostly leaned towards Republican candidates, but returned to a solidly Democratic county in 1984, coming to often back Democratic candidates in statewide elections by broad margins.

It is one of many counties dominated by college towns that swung heavily Democratic in this period.

Through much of the mid-1800s and the first half of the 20th century, the region served as a stronghold for the pro-slavery National Democratic Party.

In the 1920s the county was considered the state headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan.

[27] PeaceHealth Medical Group is the largest private employer in Lane County, followed by the University of Oregon, Eugene 4J School District, and U.S.

[28] Growth in the next decades is predicted to shift away from timber and agriculture to services, manufacturing of transportation equipment, printing and publishing, and high technology.