Apiary is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Columbia County,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, United States, that takes its name from a post office established by David M. Dorsey. The post office operated from August 28, 1889, until March 24, 1924.
It is reported that Dorsey was a beekeeper, which provided the source of the name for the Post Office and thus the community.
The community was served by Apiary School District #38, which operated a two-room school providing education services for grades 1 through 8. When operational, it operated in conjunction with the Rainier Union High School District which provided education services for grades 9 through 12. (The high school district also included a number of other grade school districts in the area: Delena, Hudson, Fern Hill,
Rainier,
Goble, Shiloh Basin, and Neer City districts. In the 1960s, the districts were consolidated into a single district, and the rural schools were closed over the next 10 to 15 years.) The community and the school are located along the road now known as Apiary Road near the headwaters of the North Fork of the
Clatskanie River
The Clatskanie River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a timber-producing area in the foothills of the Northern Oregon Coast Range north-northwest of Portland.
It ...
. At this writing, the school building still exists but has been converted to a private home. The community also includes a pioneer cemetery but has never contained a community center such as a church,
Grange hall
The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and ...
, or even a fire station.
Currently, Apiary Road
[http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/gis/docs/countymaps/colu1.pdf Columbia County Road Map] is a popular freight route for
forest products
A forest product is any material derived from forestry for direct consumption or commercial use, such as lumber, paper, or fodder for livestock. Wood, by far the dominant product of forests, is used for many purposes, such as wood fuel (e.g. in f ...
moving from the
Northern Oregon Coast Range
The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part ...
(particularly areas drained by the
Nehalem River
The Nehalem River is a river on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Northern Oregon Coast Range northwest of Portland, originating on the east side of the mountains and flowing i ...
) to markets in
Longview, Washington
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the 2 ...
. The Apiary Road interconnects the
Nehalem Highway north of
Pittsburg signed as
Oregon Route 47 with
U.S. Route 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...
west of Rainier. However, the intersection with U.S. Route 30 is signed as Larson Road, because Apiary Road technically ends at Old Rainier Road, a former route of U.S. Route 30 just to the south of the present U.S. Route 30.
References
External links
Apiary history from VanNatta Forestry and Logging
Unincorporated communities in Columbia County, Oregon
1889 establishments in Oregon
Populated places established in 1889
Unincorporated communities in Oregon
{{ColumbiaCountyOR-geo-stub