Delena 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 U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 30 slightly west of Alston and about halfway between Rainier on the east and

Clatskanie Clatskanie is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the Tlatskanai Native American tribe, and the Clatskanie River which flows through the town and empties into the Columbia River about four miles to the north. The p ...

on the west. Delena had a post office that operated intermittently from April 22, 1892, to March 15, 1922. Lincoln J. Meserve was the first of nine postmasters at this location. Accounts of the origin of the community's name have varied, according to ''

Oregon Geographic Names ''Oregon Geographic Names'' is a compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon, published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. McArth ...

'' (OGN). It may refer to a mythological name that Meserve found in a book or it may be the name of someone in Meserve's family or it may refer to a place in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. In 1947, W. N. Meserve, Meserve's brother, told the OGN compiler that the mythological explanation was correct, and the compiler could find no place named Delena in Nebraska.

References

Unincorporated communities in Columbia County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{ColumbiaCountyOR-geo-stub