BlockBefore

Alston, Oregon

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Rainier census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97048. It stands on South Fork Beaver Creek. The Survey maps it on the Delena quadrangle. It stands 499 feet above sea level.

Alston within Columbia County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 15 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

91 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 91 fires within 5 miles of Alston between 1992 and 2020, burning about 122 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 1 was 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
Debris and open burning35
Equipment and vehicle use14
Recreation and ceremony10
Fireworks7
Smoking7
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Natural3
Other causes3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 1999Smokingunder an acreColumbia City UnitALSTON-MAYGER ROAD
7 September 2020Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersHWY 30 ALSTON MAYGER
5 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersOLD RAINIER ROAD #2
4 September 1992Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreColumbia City UnitPELLHAM HILL RD.
3 September 2007Smokingunder an acreColumbia City UnitSTEWART CREEK ROAD #1
28 September 2016Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersHARBOR VIEW DR. #1
27 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersBEAVER FALLS RD #2
21 September 1992Smokingunder an acreColumbia City UnitMOHLER FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Columbia County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 47 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 47 workings within 5 miles of Alston: 31 past producers, 13 producers, 2 occurrences, 1 plant. 14 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Aluminum, Iron, Titanium, Metal. 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
(Facility) Longview Aluminum SmelterAluminum, Contained or MetalPlant
Bauxite Kalama-RainerAluminum, Iron, Titanium, MetalOccurrence
Kalama-Ranier Bauxite OccurrenceAluminumOccurrence
Sig Fransen Clay PitClayPast Producer
Columbia West Materials & ConstrSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Columbia West Materials & Constr.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Paul Zimmerly Road ConstructionSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Paul Zimmerly Road ConstructionSand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Columbia 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
Delena1.4 miles15
Hudson (historical)1.6 miles15
Kyser (historical)2.8 miles15
Mayger5.5 miles15
Rainier5.9 miles12
Apiary6.0 miles15
Beaver Springs6.4 miles12
Inglis6.5 miles15

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 AlstonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q30622185The 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 1135999. 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.