Pine Grove 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 Hood River 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 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 ...

Oregon Route 35 Oregon Route 35 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon, running between Government Camp on the slopes of Mount Hood and the city of Hood River. OR 35 traverses part of the Mt. Hood Highway No. 26 ( Mount Hood Scenic Byway) ...

in the middle

Hood River Valley Hood River Valley is the river basin of Hood River in northern Oregon, U.S. It is bounded by the Columbia River to the north, Mount Hood to the south, the Cascade Range crest to the west and an apparently unnamed ridge system to the east whic ...

near Neal Creek. It is about five miles south of the city of Hood River and has a Hood River ZIP code.

History

Pine Grove was a station on the

Mount Hood Railroad The Mount Hood Railroad is a heritage and shortline freight railroad located in Hood River, Oregon, east of Portland, Oregon, United States. The majority of the railroad's revenue is generated from passenger excursions although a few smal ...

and was named for a stand of timber that once existed at this locale. In 1886, German immigrant Peter Mohr planted 400 apple trees in the Pine Grove area, in what was probably the first commercial orchard in the Hood River Valley planted on dry land and relying solely on

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

. Pine Grove was also one of the primary communities in the Hood River Valley farmed by ''Nikkei''—

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese migrants and their descendants.

Economy

Like much of Hood River County, the economy of Pine Grove is based on agriculture, especially fruit orchards and the accompanying storage and packing facilities. Businesses in the Pine Grove area include

The Fruit Company The Fruit Company is an American company that was founded in 1942 by Roy Webster. The company, still privately owned and led by CEO Scott Webster, has become known for their "classic baskets and gift towers featuring Northwest-grown pears and apple ...

, which packs and ships fruit gift baskets and gourmet food products, and Mount Hood Winery. Mount Hood Winery's cooperative winemaking facility is located in a former fruit-packing warehouse. Also located in Pine Grove is Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers, a non-profit organization of 400 growers and 20 shippers of tree fruit in the Mid- Columbia area that works to encourage and promote the fruit industry. To preserve the history of the area's principal industry, in 2012 The Fruit Foundation Historical Society will be opening the Fruit Heritage Museum in Pine Grove in a historic cold storage and fruit packing facility built in the 1930s and now owned by the Fruit Company.

Historic structures

Pine Grove

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006. It is the oldest Grange in Hood River County. The current Grange hall originally served as a general store and the upstairs was a community dance hall. Today the Hood River Valley Playhouse uses the upstairs stage for its productions. Pine Grove Methodist Church was dedicated in 1907 and still serves the community today. The Martin and Carrie Hill House near Pine Grove is a 1910

Dutch Colonial Revival Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Rev ...

house on a working farm listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Education

Pine Grove Elementary School is part of the Hood River County School District. The current school was built in 1927 and has the original cast iron

school bell The ringing of a school bell announces important times to a school's students and staff, such as marking the beginnings and ends of the school day, class period, and breaks. In some schools it may take the form of a physical bell, usually e ...

in the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. The first school on the current school grounds was built in 1887 in the pine grove for which the community is named. The pine grove was cut down in 1957, but a group of students and alumni replanted pine trees around the school during a reunion in 2008. Pine Grove Elementary was closed as a K-5 school in 2011.

References

External links

Image of Pine Grove Methodist Church
from

Oregon State Archives The Archives Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Oregon, or the Oregon State Archives, is an agency of the Oregon Secretary of State charged with preserving and providing access to government records. The Oregon State Archives is ...

History of Pine Grove School
from Pine Grove PTO

from orgenweb.org {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Hood River County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon