Archives West Finding Aid

One of the first white settlers to Apiary, an unincorporated community In Columbia County, Oregon and approximately eight miles southwest of Rainier, was Joseph Hackenberg, Sr. who settled on a homestead about two miles north of the future site on August 23, 1886. Three years later, in August of 1889, the Apiary post office was established, with David M. Dorsey as the first postmaster. The post office, and the town itself, was so named because Dorsey kept bees. The Apiary post office closed on March 24, 1924 after the establishment of a rural mail route.

The Fern Hill Grange was instrumental in securing this mail route. The Fern Hill Grange, located approximately four miles northeast of Apiary, was organized in the Fern Hill School building in May of 1920. Shortly thereafter, grange members purchased a church building and half an acre of land from the Methodist Church Association of Rainier, and this building was moved to the present grange location (across from Skeans Road). This new grange hall served as the community center, hosting everything from local elections and social events, to meetings of the Apiary Rural Telephone Co-partnership.

The co-partnership adopted its Articles of Agreement on August 22, 1922; officers were elected on August 24, with Orris Kellar as the first President. For $75, The Pacific Telephone and Telegram Company agreed to extend their Line #4 out of Rainier to Apiary. Co-partnership members were responsible not only for the cost of extending the line, but for the costs associated with purchasing the necessary supplies and labor, switchboard operation services, and monthly maintenance costs of fifty cents per member per month. The majority of members in the co-partnership were private individuals.

Poles were placed by November 1923; by June 1929, members decided the line had reached maximum capacity, and that new members would only be admitted should another member separate from the partnership. Over the next thirty years, the line was extended, and new members were accepted as old members left. However, in August of 1961 a motion to “abandon” the line was put to a vote. Though the motion did not pass, a committee of three members was appointed to review the line and partnership and advise on the best course of action. On September 5, 1961, the Committee recommended that the partnership be dissolved and the line be abandoned to Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, effective Sept 10, 1961. As Pacific Bell had agreed to continue service to members at the current co-partnership rate, the motion carried unanimously and the co-partnership was dissolved. All monies left on the account were turned over to the Fern Hill Grange for use by the Hall for the next 40 years.