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Doty, Washington

Coordinates: 46°38′04″N 123°16′40″W / 46.63444°N 123.27778°W / 46.63444; -123.27778
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Doty, Washington
Doty is located in Washington (state)
Doty
Doty
Doty is located in the United States
Doty
Doty
Coordinates: 46°38′04″N 123°16′40″W / 46.63444°N 123.27778°W / 46.63444; -123.27778
CountryUnited States
StateWashington
CountyLewis
Elevation
[1]312 ft (95 m)
Population
 • Total
approx. 250
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
zip code
98539
Area code360

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.[1] 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.

History

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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 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]

Chauncey A. Doty built a sawmill in the area around 1900, and the community that sprang up around it was named after him.[3][4] Doty once boasted the largest sawmill in Lewis County.[5]

Post office

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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. By 2000, the Doty post office no longer offered mail delivery and mainly provided post office boxes for rental.[6]

Arts and culture

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Historic buildings and sites

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Doty was once home to the Doty Bridge, a covered railroad bridge that was one of the last remaining in the state.[7][8] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places but had its designation removed in 1990.

Parks and recreation

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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, where riders can float over a slight waterfall that remained after severe flooding damage due to the Great Coastal Gale of 2007.[9][10]

The Willapa Hills Trail passes thru the area.[11]

Climate

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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, Doty has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Doty". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Mauermanns Came Century Ago". The Centralia Daily Chronicle. June 6, 1953. p. 3D. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Meany, Edmond S. (1923). Origin of Washington geographic names. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 71.
  4. ^ "Lewis County - Doty". jtenlen.drizzlehosting.com. Lewis Co., WA GenWeb Project.
  5. ^ Experience WA: Doty
  6. ^ Henderer, John (November 1, 2000). "Doty post office celebrates century mark". The Chronicle. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  7. ^ Hoxit, Eric (February 19, 1976). "Will old covered bridge find new home at fair?". The Daily Chronicle. p. 1. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "One of the last - Photo caption". The Daily Chronicle. August 2, 1969. p. 19. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  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.
  12. ^ Climate Summary for Doty, Washington