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NEIGHBORHOOD SYNOPSIS
Empire
Settlers coming to the area in 1853 found a good site for a town at the Indian village of Hanasitc, and named it Empire City. It served as the County seat until 1896 when the citizens of Coos County voted to move the seat to the town of Coquille, located approximately 21 miles east. Empire City was located directly across the bay from the North Spit, and was founded by the members of the Coos Bay Company from Jacksonville, OR. Empire City is the site of the first Post Office (established in 1858) to service the Coos County area. In 1894, Empire City changed its name to simply Empire, and was incorporated into the town of Coos Bay by popular vote in 1965. The neighborhood is bordered on the north and west by the bay, the east by Schoneman St., and for the purposes of this synopsis, the south by Tarheel Blvd.
Empire has its own public boat ramp, several RV parks (some with bay views), a small neighborhood park with playground (Taylor/Wasson), and an elementary and middle school. It is home to many points of interest, such as the Tower House Bed & Breakfast, Cranberry Sweets & More (a local sweetery and gift shop), Empire Café (a wine and Artisan bread bar), Bay Area Athletic Club, and several neighborhood convenience stores and taverns. It is also the future site of The Hollering Place (a piece of land bordering the bay near the boat ramp), in the early developmental stages of providing a large retail market area, as well as luxury condos, and outdoor walking and sitting areas. The Hollering Place is named for a point directly across the bay on the North Spit at which early settlers (and even earlier Indians) would yell for a person on the other side to pick them up by canoe or small boat to ferry them down the bay southward toward the mouth and Cape Arago.
In February 2011, the homes for sale in this neighborhood ranged in price from $30,000 to $215,000, most of which were below $200,000. Most homes sold in the neighborhood 6 months prior to this period were modest in square footage (between 1000 and 1460 sqft), and the average sale price was just over $100,000. The homes existing in this area were primarily built between 1945 and 1955, and are of modest construction reflecting the ranch or bungalow style. Another burst of construction occurred in the late 1970s, and manufactured homes began to show up about that time, as well. There are a handful of homes from the late 19th Century that also remain.
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