The Wonderful World of Pedee

If you’ve never heard of Pedee, Oregon (the home of Boulder’s Farm) don’t worry—neither had I until moved here two years ago. Technically not a town, Pedee (pronounced “PEE-dee”) is an unincorporated community located near the intersection of Route 223 and Maple Grove Road in Polk County.

Polk County itself is the most rural county in the Willamette Valley, with 741 square miles and only six incorporated communities (mostly in the eastern third of the county). The southwestern third of Polk County is so rugged that no one lives in it—and Pedee is right on the edge of that big chunk of “empty”.

Like far too many small rural communities throughout the country, Pedee has:

• no post office;
• no grocery store;
• no gas station;
• no reliable cell phone coverage; and
• no high-speed internet service.

In past years, life in Pedee revolved around the timber industry, like many places in western Oregon. Vestiges are all that remain of:

• the lumber mill (subdivided into a half-dozen or so large-lot residences);
• the Valley & Siletz Railroad (Depot Street is still there); annd
• the general store, café, and gas station—all in one building! (the building remains, but it was converted into a private residence more than 30 years ago).

But Pedee is no mere wide spot in the road. The cornerstones of the community are the same as they have been since the early 1900s: the school, the community church, and the volunteer fire station. (Every so often, we’ll hear its alarm go off. The first time this happened, it was late one night a week or so after the 2018 Hawaii false ballistic missile alert. For a moment I mistook it for a Civil Defense siren and feared for a moment the world was about to be nuked.)

The fourth cornerstone of the community is right next-door to the fire station: the Pedee Women’s Club. For decades, the Women’s Club has been hosting community events like quilt shows and holiday craft fairs help raise money to purchase care packages to send to oversees military personnel.

[ Ed. note: Unfortunately, none of these four cornerstones of the community are places where you can go on a wet winter day to hang out with a good book and a cup of coffee—and maybe socialize a bit with whoever walks in the door. —Mike ]

Driving through Pedee, one gets the impression things haven’t changed much, but if you look hard, signs abound this might no longer be the case. Pedee is now home to, not one, but two event venues: Pedee Creek Barn and Addivia (on the grounds of the old lumber mill) have become popular places for weddings the last couple of years. In just the two years that I’ve lived here, three new homes have been built or are in the process of being built. Lastly, while most Pedee residents are either retirees or farmers (or both), there are a few who commute to and from jobs in Salem, Corvallis and other parts of the Willamette Valley.

Based on this, one might think that Pedee is slowly transforming from a sleepy agricultural community into an exurb (like many other rural areas throughout the country)….

[ Ed. note: Fortunately, such a transformation is highly unlikely, thanks to the rugged terrain that starts just east of Pedee and extends all the way west to the coast. But if someone would just open a coffee shop…. –Mike ]