Fishing and timber are not what they once were, and the recession has slowed the rush for second homes. So it seemed the fate of this small port was clear: more struggle.
Then Newport, with fewer than 10,000 people, pulled off a stunning economic upset. Last summer, it outbid and outmaneuvered three ports in Washington to become the home, beginning in 2011, of the Pacific Fleet of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As many as 175 well-paying federal jobs are on the way. Huge research vessels will dock across from rusty old salmon boats beneath the New Deal-era bridge that spans Yaquina Bay.