Medora, North Dakota
6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the South Billings unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58645. It stands on Railroad Creek. The Survey maps it on the Medora quadrangle. 121 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,267 feet above sea level.
On record in Medora
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 8 records
Billings County Courthouselisted 1977
Chateau de Moreslisted 1975
De Mores Packing Plant Ruinslisted 1975
Initial Rocklisted 1976
Peaceful Valley Ranchlisted 1994
St. Mary's Catholic Churchlisted 1977
Von Hoffman Houselisted 1977- De Mores Memorial Parklisted 2019
Population over time
2 figuresMedora grew from 112 to 121 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 112 | |
| 2020 | 121 | +9 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 6 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS Dickinson quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Dickinson quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Medora quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Belfield quadrangle1:100000
- 1997 USGS Medora quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
53 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Medora between 1992 and 2020, burning about 276 acres in total. 11 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Dakota Prairie National Grasslands | SULLY CREEK |
| 26 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.2 acres | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | RAILROAD RIP RAP |
| 15 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | HWY 10 |
| 9 August 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | MIX PIT |
| 9 August 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | LIGHTING 1 |
| 3 August 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Dakota Prairie National Grasslands | CORRAL 7 |
| 3 August 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 acres | Dakota Prairie National Grasslands | MEDORA CAMPGROUND |
| 26 August 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Dakota Prairie National Grasslands | OUCH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Medora: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoria Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Scoria Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
36 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Medora in 36 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 24 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. The reports record 3 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1996 | Hail | Medora | 3 hurt, $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Flood | Medora | $50,000 | See the event episode narrative for details. |
| July 2011 | Flash Flood | Medora | $25,000 | Up to four inches of very heavy rainfall resulted in the camp grounds at Medora being flash flooded. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Medora | $15,000 | A roof was damaged on a home. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Medora | $10,000 | Hail accompanied by measured 68 mph wind gust on a hand held anemometer. Damage to a ranch 4 miles south of Medora included the roof and windows and tree limbs down in the farm yard. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | $1,500 | Multiple tree limbs down. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by the public. |
| July 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Medora | - | A brief tornado touchdown was reported. No reports of damage or injuries were received. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | RAWS site near Painted Canyon visitor center. |
| July 2003 | Hail | Medora | - | Heavy rain reported with the storm. |
| July 2003 | Hail | Medora | - | Hail damaged numerous vehicles in and around the Medora area. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | Several tree's uprooted. |
| June 1998 | Hail | Medora | - | Deputy reported ground was white with hail. |
| August 1998 | Lightning | Medora | - | 53 acres theodore roosevelt nat'l park by fire caused by lightning |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | winds occurred 3 E Medora |
| July 2020 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| September 2018 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Medora | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoria Point | 2.4 miles | 7 | |
| Sully Springs | 7.7 miles | 7 | |
| Fryburg | 12.1 miles | 7 | |
| Six Mile Corner | 18.3 miles | 7 | |
| Gorham | 19.9 miles | 8 | |
| Fairfield | 24.9 miles | 9 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Medora | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2018799 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1035000. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




