North Lincoln County was a land of homesteads that grew up along the Salmon River, Drift Creek, Schooner Creek, Cougar Mountain and the Siletz River after that area was opened to settlement in 1895. The oldest town in north county is Kernville. Daniel Kern of Portland built a fish cannery on the Siletz River in 1986.

Lincoln City started out as a string of towns along seven miles of the coast. In 1965 a new city, Lincoln City, took the place of Cutler City, Taft, Nelscott, Oceanlake, and Delake.

Charles Depoe and other relatives inherited property they sold to Mr. and Mrs. George Cutler of Dallas, who established a townsite. In 1925, a group of families settled in and around the town, and the first post office was establish and named in honor of the Cutlers.

Taft's first residents were Jacob and Cissie Johnson, government patent land grantees from the Coast Reservation. They owned about 80 acres each where most of the town of Taft originated. In 1904 John Bones opened the first store in Taft, named after William Howard Taft, and a post office was established with Bones as postmaster. The first hotel also was established by the Bones. The Johnsons sold their land in 1933 to Fred Robison who started Siletz bay Trading Company. Taft incorporated in 1949.

Nelscott, north of Taft, was established in 1925 from land purchased by Charles P. Nelson and Dr. W.G. Scott. The Nelscott land Company was established in October of that year, and the company divided up the 170-acre tract and sold lots to people wanting a summer place at the coast. The Nelscott Auto Park was established in 1926, and in 1929 a post office was established with Nelson as the postmaster. In 1927 Frank Hallock built the second store in Nelscott. Nelscott was originally planned as a residential and beach resort, and it has remained much the same through the years.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hostetler bought land near the mouth of Devils Lake in 1910 and moved there in 1924. It was through their efforts that the town grew as rapidly as it did. The first store and post office were established in Delake in 1924. The town incorporated in 1949. The first regatta on devils lake took place in July 1933 with about 15,000 in attendance.