The name Tillamook is of Chinook origin (a trade pidgin, which had developed along the lower Columbia.)

The popular translation of Tillamook as meaning "land of many waters" seems to be 20th-century fabrication used in the tourist industry.

By the end of the 20th century, the replanted growth was considered mature enough to be commercially harvested.

The two wooden hangars used to house these airships were decommissioned after World War II and deeded to Tillamook County.

Located south of Tillamook, at the top of 3,154-foot (961 m) high Mount Hebo, Air Force radars operated by the 689th Radar Squadron and the 14th Missile Warning Squadron were essential parts of the nation's integrated air defenses.

The large radomes protecting the radars from adverse weather effects could be seen silhouetted against the sky from most of Tillamook County.

Development along U.S. Route 101 to the north of Tillamook during the last part of the 20th century has blocked part of the flood plain of the Wilson River, contributing to repeated winter flooding in the city.

Tillamook dairy products are available throughout the Western United States and the rest of the country.

The coast also provides locations for vacation homes for inhabitants of nearby Portland and the Willamette Valley.

According to the 2015 Dean Runyan Travel Impacts study, tourism brings $229.4 million in visitor spending to Tillamook County.

Tillamook County is the first in the continental United States to be declared ready for a tsunami.

This designation was given by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after the county paid $15,000 for 27 warning sirens and an emergency radio system.

In 2012, county leaders voted to deactivate most of the sirens, in favor of more modern methods.

It voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from Oregon statehood until 1928, even supporting William Howard Taft in 1912, when the party was divided.

In recent years, it has swung back to Republicans, with John Kitzhaber being the last Democrat to win it in 2014.

In 2019, Tillamook County passed a Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance to counter the more liberal gun laws of Oregon at-large, stating that any laws which restrict the right to own firearms "shall not be enforced by Tillamook County agents.

"[20] Tillamook County served as the setting for the fictional town of Elk Cove in the 1987 comedy film Overboard starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

Todd Snider released Tillamook County Jail on his 2004 album East Nashville Skyline.

Tillamook County is the location of the fictional town of Arcadia Bay in the 2015 video game Life is Strange and its 2017 prequel Before the Storm.