D River

{{Short description|River in Lincoln City, Oregon, United States}} {{Distinguish|River Dee (disambiguation){{!}}River Dee}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox river | name = D River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = Winning entry in a naming contest from {{start date and age|1940}}, presumably after Devils Lake where it flows from<ref name = "contest"/>  | image = D river.jpg | image_caption = Looking downstream toward the Pacific | image_size = 300 | map = | map_size = 300 | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA Oregon | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the D River in Oregon  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Oregon | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = County | subdivision_name4 = Lincoln | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = Devils Lake | source1_location = Lincoln City | source1_coordinates= {{coord|44|58|02|N|124|00|55|W|display=inline}}<ref name="gnis">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) | publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = May 22, 1986 | url ={{Gnis3|1132089}} | title = D River | accessdate = July 28, 2010}}</ref> | source1_elevation = {{convert|9|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="source">Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.</ref> | mouth = Pacific Ocean | mouth_location = Lincoln City | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|44|58|04.91|N|124|01|02.35|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="gnis"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|7|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name = "gnis"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''D River''' is a river in Lincoln City, Oregon, United States. The once-nameless river was at one time the "shortest river in the world"<ref name="parks">{{cite web |url= http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_214.php |title= D River State Recreation Site |publisher= Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |accessdate= February 28, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i85UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ADwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3946,586506 |title=Seeks Name for River |work=The News-Sentinel |date=July 4, 1940 |accessdate=February 28, 2012}}<br>- {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fCNWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yOIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5244,3280559 |title=Shortest River? Well, Maybe |work=The Register-Guard |date=February 18, 1953 |accessdate=February 2, 2012}}<br>- {{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mzxPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7060,2108926 |title=Oregon Has Squabble Over Shortest River |work=The Times-News |date=October 12, 1963 |accessdate=February 28, 2012}}</ref> in the ''Guinness World Records'' at {{convert|440|ft|m}}.

==World record dispute== {{stack|thumb|upright|120px|"World's Shortest" river}} The world's shortest title was lost in 1989 when Guinness named the Roe River in Montana as the world's shortest. Attempting to reclaim the title, the people of Lincoln City submitted a new measurement to Guinness of about {{convert|120|ft|m}} marked at "extreme high tide".<ref>{{cite news | first = Carmel | last = Finley | title = D River Reclaims 'Lost' Title | work = The Oregonian | date = May 4, 1988 | quote = Ginther said he determined that the D River flows from a fish control structure at the entrance of the lake west to where a huge driftwood log marks the point of extreme high tide, give or take five feet, and depending on sand elevation. That is 120 feet.}}</ref> At that time, Lincoln City's Chamber of Commerce described the Roe as a "drainage ditch surveyed for a school project". Montana supporters shot back that the D was merely an "ocean water backup," pointed out that there was an alternative fork to the Roe which was only {{convert|30|ft}} long, and suggested that a new survey be conducted.<ref name="Jennings"/> Guinness apparently never ruled on the dispute, leaving the claim by the Roe to stand, but instead, starting in 2006, chose to no longer list the shortest river, possibly because of this ongoing dispute.<ref name="Jennings">{{cite web|last1=Jennings|first1=Ken|title=What's the World's Shortest River?|url=https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-06-18/d-river-lincoln-city-oregon-ken-jennings-maphead|website=Conde Nast Traveler|accessdate=October 1, 2017|date=June 18, 2012}}</ref>

==Geography== The D River flows from Devils Lake, under U.S. Route 101, and into the Pacific Ocean, entirely within the city limits of Lincoln City. The D River State Recreation Site off Highway 101 is home to two of the world's largest kite festivals in the summer and fall.<ref name="parks"/>

This area was originally settled as the town of Delake, which was later incorporated with other nearby towns to form Lincoln City in 1965. The river had been known by several names, including simply "the outlet", and earned its short name in a contest.<ref name="contest">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregoncoasttoday.com/thedriver.html |title=The World's Shortest River Is Long on Controversy |last=Price |first=Niki |work=Oregon Coast Today |date=January 18, 2007 |accessdate=March 5, 2009 |quote=In 1940, the Delake Chamber of Commerce sponsored a nationwide contest to come up with a new, shorter name for the world's shortest river. The winning moniker, 'D,' a perfectly succinct name submitted by Mrs. Johanna Beard of Albany, Ore., was officially accepted by the U.S. Geographic Board of Names. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203153845/http://www.oregoncoasttoday.com/thedriver.html |archivedate=February 3, 2009 }}</ref>

==See also== *List of rivers of Oregon *Ombla, in Croatia, claimed to be the shortest river in the world at 30 m (98 ft) *Reprua River, in Abkhazia, also claimed to be the shortest river in the world at 18 m (59 ft)

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}} *[http://www.dlwid.org/ Devils Lake Water Improvement District]

Category:Rivers of Lincoln County, Oregon Category:Lincoln City, Oregon Category:Rivers of Oregon