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Sherman County, Oregon

42 topographic sheets cover 19 settlements here, and 4 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

4 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Oregon within the United States
Sherman County within Oregon

What the record shows

  • 179 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 4 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings and 1 site.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 19 populated places in this county; 19 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

4

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Columbia Southern Railroad Passenger Station and Freight Warehousebuilding199191000059
DeMoss Springs Parksite200707000366
John and Helen Moore Housebuilding199494000806
Sherman County Courthousebuilding199898001122

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

74 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 74 of them, burning about 137,993 acres. 32 started naturally and 1 was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Natural32
Missing data/not specified/undetermined25
Recreation and ceremony6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1
Arson/incendiarism1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Debris and open burning1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
1 July 2008Natural20,115 acresPrineville District0250 JACK KNIFE
3 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined15,591 acresPrineville District0621
22 June 2018Natural15,589 acresPrineville DistrictJACK KNIFE
13 July 2014Natural13,161 acresPrineville District0290 JACK KNIFE
3 July 2008Natural9,787 acresPrineville District0284 I284
24 July 1994Natural7,000 acresPrineville DistrictNARROWS
8 June 2016Natural6,300 acresPrineville District0162 CURRIE CANYON
3 October 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined5,877 acresPrineville District1241

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1963 to 2024

19 of 19 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 19 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 1 injury and about $50,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind9
Hail8
Flash Flood1
Funnel Cloud1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2006HailGrass Vly1 hurtA motorcycle rider was bruised by the wind blown hail.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly$50,000A tractor trailer rig was blown over. A tree fell through a house.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindRufus-Mesonet stations along I-84 recorded wind gusts as high as 79 mph in Sherman County.
August 2024HailKent-Facebook report of hail slightly bigger than a quarter at Grass Valley.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly-Patjens RAWS measured gust.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly-Measured by RAWS station.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindKent Decker Arpt-Wind gust to 59 mph at North Pole Ridge RAWS.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly-Wind gust to 63 mph at spotter's residence.
May 2010HailKlondike-Hail ranged from dime to nickel size and thinly coated the ground along Highway 206.
May 2010HailKent-Nickel sized hail reported.
May 2010HailKent-Hail up to 1 inch diameter completely covered the ground.
June 2009Funnel CloudGrass Vly-Funnel cloud was 1/3 of the distance from cloud to ground and lasted for 45 seconds.
August 2003Flash FloodRufus-Heavy rain led to some flash flooding in the city of Rufus. City hall, emergency services, three residential basements experienced some flooding. In addition, some road damage was also reported.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindRufus-no account filed
May 2020Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly-no account filed
September 2013HailMoro-no account filed
August 2013HailKent-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindGrass Vly-no account filed
August 1963Hailnot stated-no account filed

Mines and quarries

43 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 43 workings inside this county. 20 still produce and 23 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Stone, Crushed/Broken14
Stone13
Gemstone10
Sand and Gravel, Construction6
Gold, Silver1
Silver, Gold1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Gemstones MineGemstone, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed SiteGemstone, Silver, GoldOccurrence
China HollowSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
China HollowSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Hockman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hockman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Old Highway SiteSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Old Highway SiteSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gemstones MineGemstonePast Producer
Gemstones MineGemstonePast Producer
Jasper MineGemstonePast Producer
Jasper MineGemstoneProducer
Jasper PitGemstonePast Producer
Jasper PitGemstoneProducer
Unnamed SiteGemstoneProducer
Unnamed SiteGemstoneProducer
Basalt QuarryStonePast Producer
Basalt QuarryStonePast Producer
Fulton CanyonStonePast Producer
Fulton CanyonStonePast Producer
Lone RockStonePast Producer
Mp 24 Sherman HwyStonePast Producer
Mp 35.9 Sherman HwyStonePast Producer
Mp 4.8 Wasco-Heppner HwyStonePast Producer
NortonStonePast Producer
QuarryStonePast Producer
Ruggls RoadStonePast Producer
Spanish Hollow CreekStonePast Producer
Van Guilder QuarryStonePast Producer
Fulton Canyon PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Fulton Canyon PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Lone Rock PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Mp 24 Sherman HwyStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Mp 35.9 Sherman HwyStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Mp 4.8 Wasco-Heppner HwyStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Norton PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Ruggls RoadStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Spanish Hollow Creek PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Van Guilder QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every populated place in the county

19

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Sherman County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • 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.