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Olean, New York

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Olean City. It lies in ZIP code area 14760. It stands on Olean Creek. The Survey maps it on the Olean quadrangle. 13,937 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,463 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Olean within Cattaraugus County

Then and now

1898 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 88 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Olean, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of Olean, surveyed 1898

On record in Olean

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 10 records

Population over time

2 figures

Olean fell from 14,452 to 13,937 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.

YearPeople Change
201014,452
202013,937-515 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

173 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 173 fires within 5 miles of Olean between 1992 and 2019, burning about 165 acres in total. 16 started naturally. 22 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined71
Debris and open burning34
Arson/incendiarism22
Smoking17
Natural16
Equipment and vehicle use8
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2008Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
23 September 2017Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
20 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
14 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
14 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
12 September 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
12 September 2008Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cattaraugus County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Olean: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Allegany Aggregates PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Allegany Aggregates PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
E.F. Lippert and Co. S & G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
E.F. Lippert and Co. S & G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gulf Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gulf Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
William J. Lippert & Son S & G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Cattaraugus County

Storms near this place

50 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Olean in 50 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 33 thunderstorm wind, 7 flash flood, 3 hail, 3 flood. The reports record 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2001LightningOlean2 hurtno account filed
January 1999Heavy SnowOlean$150,000no account filed
March 2007FloodOlean$100,000no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindOlean$50,000no account filed
August 1993Thunderstorm WindOlean$50,000no account filed
September 1993Thunderstorm WindOlean$50,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindOlean$45,000no account filed
August 1999Flash FloodOlean$35,000no account filed
September 2020Thunderstorm WindOlean$25,000Several trees were reported down in Olean. Some of the trees fell on houses.
March 2011FloodOlean$25,000no account filed
March 2011FloodOlean$25,000no account filed
September 2014Thunderstorm WindOlean$20,000Law enforcement reported trees and wires down on a house on South Barry Street.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindOlean$17,000no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000A newspaper article reported trees and wires downed by thunderstorm winds in Olean.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Law enforcement reported downed trees blocking several roads in Olean.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Law enforcement reported trees and wires down on Garden Avenue.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Law enforcement reported trees down on Main Street.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000A trained spotter reported trees down and an awning torn off a building.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Numerous trees and branches were downed throughout Olean.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindOlean$15,000Law enforcement reported trees and wires down.
August 2012Flash FloodOlean$15,000no account filed
June 2005Flash FloodOlean$15,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindOlean$12,000Thunderstorm winds downed trees and wires.
August 1996Flash FloodOlean$11,000no account filed
October 2017Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000Law enforcement reported trees and wires downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000Law enforcement reported trees downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000Law enforcement reported trees down on West Riverside Drive.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000Law enforcement reported trees and wires down.
May 2013HailOlean$10,000no account filed
August 2001Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindOlean$10,000no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindOlean$5,000Trees and wires were reported down in multiple locations around Olean.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindOlean$5,000no account filed
July 1999HailOlean$5,000no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindOlean$5,000no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindOlean$3,000Numerous trees downed in Olean.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindOlean$3,000no account filed
April 2025Thunderstorm WindOlean$2,000Tree and several powerlines downed.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindOlean$2,000Trees and wires were downed.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindOlean$2,000Multiple reports of trees down were received.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindOlean$2,000Several trees and wires were down around Olean.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindOlean$2,000Trees and power lines were reported down in Olean.
August 1996HailOlean$2,000no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindOlean$1,000Trees were reported down.
June 2024Heavy RainOlean-Total 24 hour rainfall from COOP observation station OLNN6 in Olean of 4.41 inches.
June 2024Flash FloodOlean-Video of water on Union Street near Jamestown Community College in Olean.
September 2024Flash FloodOlean-Buffalo Street closed due to flooding.
September 2022Flash FloodOlean-Flash flooding with road closures occurred on South Union Street and Martha Avenue just south of Olean.
August 2021Heavy RainOlean-Storm total rainfall that was reported during the entirety of the passage of the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred.

Every storm recorded in Cattaraugus County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
East Olean0.5 miles19
Seneca Heights0.6 miles19
South Olean0.6 miles19
Boardmanville0.9 miles19
North Olean1.2 miles19
Baldwin Heights1.5 miles19
Homer Hill1.6 miles19
Village of Saint Anthony2.4 miles19

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 OleanAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q630963The 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 959338. 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.