Doty,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

is an unincorporated community located 1.3-miles directly west of

Dryad A dryad (; , sing. ) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically " oak" in Greek. Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general. Types Daphnaie Thes ...

and 5 miles east of Pe Ell on

Washington State Route 6 State Route 6 (SR 6) is a long State highways in Washington, state highway in Pacific County, Washington, Pacific and Lewis County, Washington, Lewis counties in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The highway, which e ...

. , 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.

History

The Doty-Dryad area was once known as North Prairie and the lands were first settled in 1852 by Joseph and Karolina Mauermann, Austrian immigrants who traveled by

wagon train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The region was inundated with strands of

old growth An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

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 away. Chauncey A. Doty built a sawmill in the area around 1900, and the community that sprang up around it was named after him. Doty once boasted the largest sawmill in Lewis County. In 1923, the Cowlitz, Chehalis, & Cascade Railroad, during a region-wide expansion, renamed the spur station at Doty to Macomber, in honor of a local family.

Post office

A post office was established in Doty inside a store on November 2, 1900 but the building was lost in a fire. Reestablished inside the historic Doty General Store, the post office was once moved to a postmaster's house in 1957 where it operated until shifting back to the store in 1973. In 2000, the post office celebrated its 100th anniversary though the location only provided post office boxes for rental.

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 The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Doty has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Arts and culture

Historic buildings and sites

Doty was once home to the Doty Bridge, a covered railroad bridge that was one of the last remaining in the state. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

but had its designation removed in 1990.

Parks and recreation

Many residents in Doty participate in the annual Pe Ell River Run that has been 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 Rainbow Falls State Park is a public recreation area on the Chehalis River (Washington), Chehalis River. It is situated off Washington State Route 6, State Route 6 and is approximately east of Dryad, Washington. The state park's rests on gro ...

, where riders can float over a slight waterfall that remained after severe flooding damage due to the

Great Coastal Gale of 2007 The Great Coastal Storm of 2007 was a series of three powerful Pacific storms that affected the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia between December 1 and December 4, 2007. The storms on December 2 ...

. The

Willapa Hills Trail The Willapa Hills Trail is a 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 throu ...

passes thru the area.

References

{{Lewis County, Washington Populated places in Lewis County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Lewis County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)