Minerva 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 hav ...

in Lane 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 Idah ...

, United States. It is located about northeast of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

near the North Fork Siuslaw River within the

Siuslaw National Forest The Siuslaw National Forest ( ) is a national forest in western Oregon in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes. Geography The Siuslaw Natio ...

. When local settlers petitioned the

post office department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmas ...

for a new office in the 1890s, the name "Bays Landing" was suggested to honor local resident James E. Bay. The department suggested a one-word name would be more convenient, so the office was named Minerva after Mr. Bay's wife. L. C. Ackerley wrote the petition and the post office was first located in the Ackerley home. The post office closed in about 1940. At one time Minerva had a store with a gas pump, a

United Evangelical Church The United Evangelical Church is a splinter group from the Evangelical Association History It was formed in 1891 when some members of the Evangelical Association left to form the new church. The schism was caused by the autocratic administratio ...

, a

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 ...

, and public school, but none of these remain at the site today. The school at Minerva served students in grades 1 through 8, and older students attended boarding school in Florence. When a road was constructed to Florence students of all ages attended school there and the Minerva school was closed.

References

External links

Historic image of a covered bridge near Minerva
from Salem Public Library {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Lane County, Oregon Ghost towns in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon