Dee, Oregon
Dee is an unincorporated community and former company town in Hood River County, Oregon, United States, on Oregon Route 281, about 11 miles south of Hood River.[1]
History
The Oregon Lumber Company built a sawmill at Dee in 1906 and named it for Thomas Duncombe Dee, a stockholder and business associate of board member David Eccles.[2] Dee was also a station on the Eccles-owned Mount Hood Railroad.[3] In addition to the large sawmill, Dee had a privately owned water works and electric lighting system, as well as a general store, shops, and a hotel.[3][4]
Dee had a population of 250 in 1915; 200 in 1919, and by 1940 the population had declined to 100.[3][5][6]
Dee was sold to the Edward Hines Lumber Company in 1958 and they dismantled the town.[5]
Besides logging, Dee's economy is also tied to the fruit-growing industry of the Hood River Valley. The area was one of the primary communities in the Hood River Valley farmed by Nikkei—Japanese migrants and their descendants.[4] The first Japanese in the area were hired as laborers on the Mount Hood Railroad.[4] They also worked at the mill and lived in the company housing on both sides of the East Fork Hood River, which passes through the town.[4]
About 35 Nikkei families lived in Dee in the 1920s and they founded the Dee Japanese Community Hall.[4]
Geography
The area's fruit orchards lie between the east and west forks of the Hood River in an area known as Dee Flat.[7]
Economy
Oregon Democratic Senator Wayne Fawbush operated a blueberry farm in Dee for 20 years, which is still in operation.[8]
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
- Historic images of Dee from Salem Public Library
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Municipalities and communities of Hood River County, Oregon, United States
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