{{Short description| Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} '''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.<ref name=GNIS>{{cite gnis |id= 1140779|name= Dee |entrydate= November 28, 1980 |accessdate= 2010-12-10}}</ref>
==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.<ref name=OGN>{{Cite OGN|7th|page=}}</ref> Dee was also a station on the Eccles-owned Mount Hood Railroad.<ref name=Friedman>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4i1grNoMcWgC&q=In+Search+of+Western+Oregon |title= In Search of Western Oregon |author= Friedman, Ralph |authorlink= Ralph Friedman |year= 1990 |edition= 2nd |pages= 343, 594 |publisher= The Caxton Printers, Ltd |location= Caldwell, Idaho |isbn= 0-87004-332-3}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Friedman/><ref name=Nikkei>{{cite web |url= http://www.discovernikkei.org/nikkeialbum/en/collection/7219/list??from=0& |title= Nikkei Farmers of the Hood River Area |publisher= Discover Nikkei |accessdate= 2009-01-14}}</ref>
Dee had a population of 250 in 1915; 200 in 1919, and by 1940 the population had declined to 100.<ref name=Friedman/><ref name=Carlson>{{cite book |author= Carlson, Linda |title= Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest |year= 2003 |page= 219 |isbn= 0-295-98332-9 |publisher= University of Washington Press |location= Seattle |url= http://www.lindacarlson.com/historybook.html |access-date= 2010-01-14 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120222143521/http://www.lindacarlson.com/historybook.html |archive-date= 2012-02-22 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name=End>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich |title= Oregon: End of the Trail |author= Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon |series= American Guide Series |year= 1940 |publisher= Binfords & Mort |location= Portland, Oregon |page= [https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich/page/298 298] |oclc= 4874569}}</ref>
Dee was sold to the Edward Hines Lumber Company in 1958 and they dismantled the town.<ref name=Carlson/>
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.<ref name=Nikkei/> The first Japanese in the area were hired as laborers on the Mount Hood Railroad.<ref name=Nikkei/> 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.<ref name=Nikkei/>
About 35 Nikkei families lived in Dee in the 1920s and they founded the Dee Japanese Community Hall.<ref name=Nikkei/>
==Geography== The area's fruit orchards lie between the east and west forks of the Hood River in an area known as '''Dee Flat'''.<ref name=Flat>{{cite gnis |name=Dee Flat |id=1140780 |entrydate=November 28, 1980 |accessdate=2010-12-10}}</ref>
==Economy== Oregon Democratic State Senator Wayne Fawbush operated a blueberry farm in Dee for 20 years; it is still in operation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordfoundation.org/regions/united-states/team/wayne-fawbush |title=Team—Wayne Fawbush—Program Officer—New York |publisher=Ford Foundation |accessdate=2010-08-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617060009/http://www.fordfoundation.org/regions/united-states/team/wayne-fawbush |archivedate=2010-06-17 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=Dee%2C%20Oregon&CISOFIELD2=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&t=a Historic images of Dee] from Salem Public Library
{{Hood River County, Oregon}}
{{coord|45.588173|-121.626742|region:US-OR_type:city|display=title|format=dms}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Unincorporated communities in Hood River County, Oregon Category:Company towns in Oregon Category:Populated places in the United States established in 1908 Category:1908 establishments in Oregon Category:Unincorporated communities in Oregon Category:Japanese-American culture in Oregon