Oswego, New York
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Oswego City. It lies in ZIP code area 13126. It stands on Oswego River. The Survey maps it on the Oswego West quadrangle. 16,921 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 285 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1900 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Oswego
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 12 of 35 shown
Buckhout-Jones Buildinglisted 2001
Fort Ontariolisted 1970
Kingsford Historic Districtlisted 2014
Market Houselisted 1974
Oswego and Syracuse Railroad Freight Houselisted 2017
Oswego Armorylisted 1988
Oswego City Halllisted 1973
Oswego City Librarylisted 1971
Oswego County Courthouselisted 2000
Oswego Theaterlisted 1988
Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouselisted 2000
Oswego Yacht Clublisted 2010
Population over time
2 figuresOswego fell from 18,142 to 16,921 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 | 18,142 | |
| 2020 | 16,921 | -1,221 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 24 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.
- 1900 USGS Oswego quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1943 USGS Oswego West quadrangle1:31680
- 1954 USGS Oswego West quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Oswego quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Rochester quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Rochester quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1965 USGS Rochester quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Syracuse quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
136 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of Oswego between 2000 and 2020, burning about 80 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 20 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/undetermined | 86 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.3 acres | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 7 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 6 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 27 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 25 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 2 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 2 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
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 Oswego: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erie Street Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Erie Street Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
33 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oswego in 33 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 24 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $75,000 | no account filed |
| September 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $35,000 | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $35,000 | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $25,000 | Multiple trees were downed by thunderstorm winds on the SUNY Oswego campus. |
| November 2005 | Lightning | Oswego | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $20,000 | no account filed |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $15,000 | A SKYWARN spotter reported trees and wires down. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $15,000 | A trained spotter reported trees and wires down in Oswego. |
| March 2000 | Hail | Oswego | $15,000 | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $12,000 | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | A trained spotter reported numerous trees downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | Law enforcement reported numerous trees and wires down. |
| May 2014 | Hail | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $8,000 | Thunderstorm wind downed a light post on SUNY Oswego campus. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2013 | Hail | Oswego | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Oswego | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $2,000 | Trees and wires downed in the City of Oswego. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $2,000 | Multiple trees were downed on the lakeshore of the SUNY Oswego Campus. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $2,000 | Trees and wires were downed. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | $1,000 | Trees were reported down. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oswego | - | Buoy station osgn6 Oswego. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Oswego | - | A few roads closed in Oswego due to Flash Flooding. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Oswego | - | no account filed |
| September 2013 | Hail | Oswego | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oswego Beach | 2.5 miles | 24 | |
| Oswego Center | 3.1 miles | 24 | |
| Fruit Valley | 3.1 miles | 24 | |
| Lansing | 3.3 miles | 22 | |
| Walker | 3.9 miles | 22 | |
| Scriba | 4.3 miles | 22 | |
| Furniss | 4.3 miles | 24 | |
| Minetto | 4.3 miles | 22 |
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 Oswego | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1017583 | 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 959525. 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.







