Orchards

History

Orchards was originally known as Fourth Plain. Several theories exist as to the etymology of the name, but one account states that in 1846, Dugald McTavish, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, surveyed land near the fur trading post, Fort Vancouver. McTavish described four plains in the area of thick woods and officials at the trading post numbered the plains accordingly thus providing the name of the community. Wanting a more unique name, residents voted in 1904 to change the name to Orchards, after the many fruit trees in the area.

Geography

Orchards is located in southern Clark County. The community is bordered to the northeast by Hockinson, to the north by Brush Prairie, to the west by Five Corners, and to the south by the city limits of Vancouver. The neighborhood of Sifton is in the southern part of the CDP. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Orchards CDP has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  55,565
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  55,001
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  45,190
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  44,531
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  41,521
• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  41,494
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40,689
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  39,876

Most recent

• M 2.68 — 2026-09-18
  25 km ENE of Yacolt, Washington
• M 3.75 — 2026-09-05
  20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
• M 2.61 — 2026-07-31
  18 km NE of Amboy, Washington
• M 3.18 — 2025-11-23
  5 km SE of Amity, Oregon
• M 2.66 — 2025-06-16
  7 km ESE of Mossyrock, Washington
• M 2.65 — 2025-06-12
  9 km S of Morton, Washington