Mist, Oregon

Mist
—  Unincorporated community  —
Mist Location within the state of Oregon
Coordinates: 45°59′47″N 123°15′19″W / 45.99639°N 123.25528°W / 45.99639; -123.25528Coordinates: 45°59′47″N 123°15′19″W / 45.99639°N 123.25528°W / 45.99639; -123.25528
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Columbia
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	97016
Area code(s)	503 and 971
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID

Mist is an unincorporated community in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the atmospheric conditions of the Nehalem Valley.^[1]

On July 6, 2001, the Mist store, which was built in 1874, caught fire and was destroyed. Until then, it was the oldest continuously operating business in Oregon,^[2] offering food and hardware and displaying historic newspaper clippings and antique logging equipment on the walls.^{[citation needed]}

Mist is a crossroads community where Oregon Route 47 turns north to Clatskanie, Oregon, and a pioneer trail (Burn Road) crossed the Nehalem River and went south to Vernonia. It is the eastern terminus of Oregon Route 202. The Nehalem River valley widens between Mist and Jewell, and was favored by the Native American tribes of the area for hunting; it was later favored by early European American settlers for agriculture.^{[citation needed]} Although the area is now sparsely settled, it is notable for having the largest operating sawmill in Columbia County and also geological conditions lending themselves to natural gas storage.^{[citation needed]} Mist contains one of the very few, and therefore very valuable, natural gas storage areas in the Pacific Northwest. It operates unobtrusively^{[citation needed]} on a hill near Mist. It is controlled by NW Natural (formerly Northwest Natural Gas) and is connected by several pipelines, including a 16-inch (410 mm) and a 24-inch (610 mm) pipeline along the Nehalem Highway.^[3]

Earlier in the 20th century, Mist was an important logging center, complete with a railroad.^{[citation needed]} Though still important in terms of logging, the population today is sparse, and there is no longer a railroad.^{[citation needed]}

Panorama of a snowy night in Mist, taken early 2006.

References

1. ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur [1928] (2003). Oregon Geographic Names, Seventh Edition, Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87595-277-1
2. ^ The Nehalem River Highway, Jeffrey Butts
3. ^ Northwest Natural 2006 Annual report

External links

• History of Mist from VanNatta Forestry
• Mist Elementary School
• Historic photos of Mist from Salem Public Library