Alderson, Oklahoma
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the McAlester census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74501. It lies near Buck Hill. The Survey maps it on the Krebs quadrangle. 220 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 689 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAlderson fell from 304 to 220 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 | 304 | |
| 2020 | 220 | -84 (-28%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 17 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.
- 1898 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1898 USGS McAlester quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1909 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Mcalester quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS McAlester quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS McAlester quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Krebs quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1991 USGS Mc Alester quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
124 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 124 fires within 5 miles of Alderson between 1992 and 2018, burning about 5,755 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 39 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 39 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 |
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 28 September 2002 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 27 September 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 12 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 27 September 2002 | Smoking | 13 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 26 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | not named |
| 23 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 20238 |
| 2 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 20425 |
| 14 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Oklahoma Division of Forestry | 20435 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Alderson: 1 past producer. None of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alderson in 8 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Hail | Alderson | $20,000 | Golf ball size hail damaged vehicles and homes. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alderson | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 miles an hour blew over 4 empty railroad cars. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alderson | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour damage the roofs of two houses and a barn. A large power pole was also blown down. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Alderson | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Alderson | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Alderson | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | Alderson | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alderson | - | 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.
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 Alderson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1968017 | 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 1089577. 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.









