Bend, Oregon, is the city where I was born and raised. Back in the 1870s, the "Farewell Bend" was a shallow spot in the Deschutes where it was much easier to ford. The name was popularized, but when the community was officially incorperated as a city, the post office shortened it to Bend.
The town truly boomed with the arrival of lumber companies such as the Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company, which produced many millions of feet of lumber annually. However, the economic boom from the lumber industry would eventually hit a snag in the fifties, when a shortage of lumber led Shevlin-Hixon to close and caused the greatest economic plumet in the area since the Great Depression. The remains of these mills can be seen in the Old Mill district.
In the dacades since the end of the lumber era, the city has pivoted towards recreation, especially themed around the many beautiful trails and parks in the area. It is also a hub for skiing, with nearby Mount Bachelor having a popular ski resort. For these reasons, tourism has become important to the local economy and the population has grown greatly, reaching around 100,000 in the 2020 census.