Dryden is a small

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 Chelan County,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is situated along the

Wenatchee River The Wenatchee River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington, originating at Lake Wenatchee and flowing southeast for , emptying into the Columbia River immediately north of Wenatchee, Washington. On its way it passes the towns of Plain, Leaven ...

in the fertile Wenatchee Valley between the towns of Cashmere and Leavenworth. The community serves as a supply and shipping point for local farms and orchards. Dryden is part of the

Wenatchee Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

–

East Wenatchee East Wenatchee is a city in Douglas County, Washington, Douglas County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census was 13,190, a 129.1% increase on the 2000 census, having annexed m ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. The

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

ZIP Code for Dryden is 98821. According to data from the 2010 census, the total population in the Dryden ZIP code was 519 persons across 319 households. Dryden itself is not incorporated, and is not tracked by the Census.

History

The area that is now Dryden was historically called Pine Flat by local ranchers because of the large Pine trees growing in the area. In the 1890s these trees were logged and floated down the Wenatchee River to be milled, leaving the land barren and dry. Also in 1892, the Great Northern Railway built its main line through the valley but no town or station were established at that time. Only the name Dryden was assigned to the area by the railroad in honor of Canadian horticulturist and

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

John Dryden who toured with Great Northern Railway president

James J. Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwes ...

. Native American homesteaders Dan and Topen Nason were the first to see any value in the then undeveloped area and filed a land claim in 1904. Other settlers soon followed with the intent of planting orchards, specifically

apple tree An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s. The land was cut into small tracts which were quickly sold.Hull, Lindley M. (editor)''A History of Central Washington: Including the Famous Wenatchee, Entiat, Chelan and the Columbia Valleys, with an Indexed Eighty Scenic Historical Illustrations''. Spokane, WA: Shaw & Borden Company, 1929. Print. The Dryden Fruit Growers Union was incorporated in 1909 and the first fruit warehouse was constructed. That same year 18

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

s of apples were shipped out. The next year a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

was established for the small settlement growing by the warehouse. Orchard planting greatly escalated with the completion of the Icicle Canal in 1913. By 1915, the railroad had established a station at Dryden and by 1919, the town had its own bank and school as well as two churches. Currently, Dryden retains a post office, a general store, a tienda, and a small cafe called the Take A Break Cafe which has been a cafe consistently since the early 1930s.

Geography

Dryden is located in the Wenatchee Valley along the

at an elevation of 968 feet above sea level. The valley is very thin in this area, with the slopes surrounding the community rising to heights above 2,400 feet within two miles on either side of Dryden.

U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

and

U.S. Route 97 U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a major north–south route of the United States Numbered Highway System in the Pacific Northwest region. It runs for approximately through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, primarily serving in ...

run concurrently through Dryden and split into separate roads about two miles up the valley from the community. Dryden is three miles by highway from the community of Peshastin to the northwest, and 5 miles by highway from the community of Cashmere to the southeast.

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Dryden has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Dryden, Washington
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References

External links

Washington Hometown Locator - DrydenZip Code Information for 98821 at Zip-Codes.comShort biography and portrait of John Dryden at DeadFred.com
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Chelan County, Washington Wenatchee–East Wenatchee metropolitan area