Rice is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon.[1] It is about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Dufur, near Boyd and U.S. Route 197.[2]
Rice, Oregon | |
|---|---|
  Rice, Oregon  Rice, Oregon | |
| Coordinates: 45°30′19″N 121°02′39″W / 45.50528°N 121.04417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Wasco |
| Elevation | 1,010 ft (310 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Area code(s) | 458 and 541 |
| Coordinates and elevation from United States Geological Survey[1] | |
Rice was named for Horace Rice (1829-1915), an Oregon Trail pioneer who settled on upper Fifteenmile Creek in the 1860s and who planted the first crop of wheat in upland Wasco County.[3][4] When the Great Southern Railroad established a line into the area in 1905, Rice's name was given to the station near the confluence of Fifteenmile Creek and Dry Creek.[2][4][5] At one time Rice had a 50,000-bushel farmers' grain elevator run by the Rice-Union Elevator Company.[6][7] According to the author of Oregon Geographic Names, however, as of 1980 "there was little evidence of urban activity."
The historic[8] Rice Cemetery is the burial place for several members of the Rice family.[9][10]