Dryad, Washington

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Dryad, Washington
Unincorporated community
Northern Pacific Railroad station, Dryad, Washington, ca 1915 (WASTATE 425).jpeg
Northern Pacific Railroad station, Dryad, Washington, ca. 1915
USA Washington location map.svg
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Dryad
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Dryad
Coordinates: 46°38′14″N123°14′57″W / 46.63722°N 123.24917°W / 46.63722; -123.24917
Country United States
State Washington
County Lewis
Elevation
[1]
302 ft (92 m)
Time zone UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-7 (PDT)
zip code
98532
Area code 360
GNIS feature ID1504571 [1]

Dryad is a rural unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington. [1] The town of Doty is 1.3-miles to the west, with Adna and Ceres to the east, on Washington State Route 6. The Chehalis River bisects the area.

Contents

Etymology

The Doty-Dryad area, before it was settled, was once known as North Prairie. [2] The community became known as Salal. [3] The name Dryad was supplied by Northern Pacific Railway officials around 1890 at the suggestion of Willam C. Albee, who was superintendent of the Pacific Division of the NP. [4] In mythology, a dryad was a wood nymph. Albee figured that a dryad might find itself right at home living in the local fir and cedar trees.

History

Panoramic of early 1900s Dryad, Washington Dryad, Washington 1900s.jpg
Panoramic of early 1900s Dryad, Washington

The lands were first settled in 1852 by Joseph and Karolina Mauermann, Austrian immigrants who traveled by wagon train from Missouri. The region was inundated with strands of old growth fir and teemed with abundant wildlife, including cougars which caused issues for farmers attempting to raise cattle. The closest post office at the time was in Olympia, approximately 50 miles (80 km) away. [2] A post office in Dryad was eventually begun and continued until 1957 when the mail route to the community was absorbed by the post office in Chehalis. [5]

Dryad is one of many former lumber towns that sprang up on the Willapa Harbor Line (Chehalis, Washington to South Bend, Washington) of the Northern Pacific Railway. The town was originally located two miles south of the present location. The community moved when the Leudinghaus brothers of Chehalis built a sawmill at the present site in 1902. [3]

The Dryad Community Baptist Church was built in 1903 and has remained open since its construction. [6] Renovations in 2006 were done to the bell tower and roof, with stained glass windows installed in 2018. [7]

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Dryad has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. [8]

Parks and Recreation

The annual Pe Ell River Run passes through Dryad. Held since 1978, the event consists of entrants buying or building water crafts and floating down the Chehalis River from Pe Ell to Rainbow Falls State Park, which is one mile due east of the town. Riders can float over a slight waterfall that still remains despite severe flooding damage due to the Great Coastal Gale of 2007. [9] [10]

The Willapa Hills Trail passes through the town. [11]

Government and politics

Politics

Presidential Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2020 [12] 75.42%17822.88% 541.69% 4

Dryad has historically voted as favoring the Republican Party and Conservatism. As this is an unincorporated community, there are no defined bounds, and the precinct may be incongruous with the census boundaries.

The 2020 election included 2 votes for candidates of the Libertarian Party.

Education

Dryad once had a school that taught all levels, from elementary to high school. After two consolidations with the Pe Ell school district in the late-1930s and during World War II, the schoolhouse became an apartment building. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Lewis County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 82,149. The county seat is Chehalis, and its largest city is Centralia. Lewis County comprises the Centralia, WA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centralia, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Chehalis, located to the south near the confluence of the Chehalis and Newaukum rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalis, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Chehalis is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,439 at the time of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pe Ell, Washington</span> Town in Washington, United States

Pe Ell is a town in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 642 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalis River (Washington)</span> River in Washington state, United States

The Chehalis River is a river in Washington in the United States. It originates in several forks in southwestern Washington, flows east, then north, then west, in a large curve, before emptying into Grays Harbor, an estuary of the Pacific Ocean. The river is the largest solely contained drainage basin in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adna, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Adna is an unincorporated community located in Lewis County, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington State Route 6</span> State highway in Washington, United States

State Route 6 (SR 6) is a 51.37-mile (82.67 km) long state highway in Pacific and Lewis counties in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway, which extends from U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in Raymond east to Interstate 5 (I-5), co-signed with US 12, in Chehalis. Major communities located on the highway include Raymond, Pe Ell, Adna and Chehalis. The first state highway that used the current route of SR 6 was State Road 19, established in 1913. State Road 19 became State Road 12 in 1923, which became Primary State Highway 12 (PSH 12) in 1937. In 1964, PSH 12 became SR 6 and since, three minor construction projects have been arranged, only two have been completed.

Doty, Washington is an unincorporated community located 1.3-miles directly west of Dryad and 5 miles east of Pe Ell on Washington State Route 6. As of 2023, approximately 250 people reside in or around Doty, which boasts a general store, post office, fire department, and two churches. Logging and farming are the industries that most of the residents rely on for income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbow Falls State Park</span>

Rainbow Falls State Park is a public recreation area on the Chehalis River. It is situated off Washington State Route 6 and is approximately 1.0-mile (1.6 km) east of the town of Dryad, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Lewis County, Washington</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Lewis County, Washington.

The Chehalis Western Railroad was the name of two different shortline railroads that were owned and operated by Weyerhaeuser in Washington state between 1936 and 1993. The first Chehalis Western, which existed from 1936 until 1975, was a shortline Class III railroad, while the second one, which existed from 1981 until 1993, was a private railroad that operated on a different set of lines that Weyerhaeuser had later acquired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Littell, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Littell is an unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington, United States, located off Washington State Route 6 between the towns of Adna and Claquato.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceres, Washington</span> Former community in Lewis County, Washington

Ceres, also known as Ceres Hill, was a former farming and railroad depot community and is a locale in Lewis County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The area is located off Washington State Route 6 in a bend of the Chehalis River. The Willapa Hills Trail bisects the former community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCormick, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

McCormick is an unincorporated community off Washington State Route 6 in Lewis County, in the U.S. state of Washington.

Meskill is an unincorporated community off Washington State Route 6 in Lewis County, Washington. The town is located near Rainbow Falls State Park, and rests between Ceres and Dryad. The Willapa Hills Trail bisects the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doty Hills</span> Land mass in southwest Washington, US

The Doty Hills are hills in Lewis County and Grays Harbor County in southwest Washington. The hills lie north of Doty, Washington and west of Chehalis, between the Black Hills to their north and the Willapa Hills to their south. They are considered part of the Willapa Hills physiographic province.

Parks and recreation in Chehalis, Washington is administered by the Chehalis Parks and Recreation Department. Trails that connect Chehalis with locations beyond the city limits are maintained in conjunction with other local jurisdictions, state government agencies, and/or local non-profit groups and volunteers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willapa Hills Trail</span> State park and trail in Washington, United States

The Willapa Hills Trail is a 56.0-mile (90.1 km) intercounty rail trail in the U.S. state of Washington that is part of the Willapa Hills State Park. Following an east–west route alongside State Route 6, the tract links Chehalis and South Bend, traveling through or near several small towns and parks along the way. Overseen by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, local cities and towns often maintain areas of the trail within their jurisdictions. The trail is built upon a decommissioned railroad track.

The Doty Bridge was a covered bridge located in Doty, Washington, United States. A replacement for an earlier bridge, it was previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982. The Doty Bridge was removed eight years later in 1990 after the structure was reported by the state as having been destroyed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weyerhaeuser Pe Ell Bridge</span> Extinct NRHP-listed site in Chehalis, Washington

The Weyerhaeuser Pe Ell Bridge was a covered bridge built in 1934 and located over the Chehalis River near Pe Ell, Washington. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982 but delisted in 1990.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dryad, Washington
  2. 1 2 "Mauermanns Came Century Ago". The Centralia Daily Chronicle. June 6, 1953. p. 3D. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Lewis County -Dryad". jtenlen.drizzlehosting.com. Lewis Co., WA GenWeb Project.
  4. ↑ Majors, Harry M. (1975). Exploring Washington. Van Winkle Publishing Co. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-918664-00-6.
  5. ↑ Fund, Edna (July 28, 2007). "James Family Celebrated 150 Years in Grand Mound in 2002". The Chronicle. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  6. ↑ Keaton, Nancy (March 21, 2017). "These Walls Do Talk – Old Churches Tell the History of Lewis County". LewisTalk. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  7. ↑ McClug, Dian (September 28, 2009). "Transformed by Grace". The Chronicle (Centralia, Washington) . Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  8. ↑ Climate Summary for Dryad, Washington
  9. ↑ Brown, Alex (April 17, 2018). "Swollen Chehalis Doesn't Impede River Run Revelry". The Chronicle. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  10. ↑ Collucci, Paula (April 13, 2009). "Pe Ell River Runners Hit the Rapids". The Chronicle. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Willapa Hills State Park Trail". parks.state.wa.us. Washington State Parks. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Lewis County 2020 Election". Results.Vote.WA. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ VanTuyl, Aaron (March 4, 2006). "Class is out, but the building remains". The Chronicle. pp. A1, A12. Retrieved January 27, 2025.


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