Prosper is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community in Coos County

Coos County, Oregon

-National protected areas:*Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge*Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge *Siskiyou National Forest *Siuslaw National Forest - Incorporated cities:- Unincorporated communities and CDPs:-See also:...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States. It is located about three miles northwest of Bandon

Bandon, Oregon

- Economy :Like many communities on the Oregon coast, Bandon had significant fishing and timber industries, which were greatly diminished by the 1980s, though some remnants still exist. Bandon's current economy revolves around wood products, fishing, tourism, and agriculture...

 next to the Coquille River

Coquille River

The Coquille River is a stream long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of of the Southern Oregon Coast Range into the Pacific Ocean. Its watershed is located between that of the Coos River to the north and the Rogue River to the south.-Geography:The river,...

. There is no longer a town at the site.

The first cannery on the Coquille River was started in about 1882 by D. H. Getchell in what came to be known as Prosper. Prosper was founded in the summer of 1892 by Adam Pershbaker, who built a sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 and a shipyard there. The Emil Heuckendorff shipyard was established soon after. Prosper had a post office from 1893 until 1928; Pershbaker was the first postmaster. The name was likely chosen in the hope the locality would be prosperous. In 1915, Prosper's population was 500, and it had two salmon canneries, and two shingle and saw mills. Passenger boats traveled three times a day to Bandon and Coquille

Coquille, Oregon

Coquille is a city that is the county seat of Coos County, Oregon, United States. The population was 4,184 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 4,215 residents. The primary economic base is the timber industry...

.