to
Update
is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 7,263.
The Florence area was originally inhabited by the Siuslaw tribe of Native Americans.
One tradition states the city was named for state senator A. B. Florence, who represented Lane County from 1858 – 1860; another is that Florence was named for a French vessel that was wrecked at the mouth of the Siuslaw River on February 17, 1875.
On November 12, 1970, a dead whale which had washed up on the beach was destroyed with dynamite, the theory being that scavengers such as seagulls and crabs would consume the smaller pieces. Decades later, the resulting debacle became widely known via the Internet as the exploding whale story.