Elgin, Oregon
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Elgin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97827. It stands on Gordon Creek. The Survey maps it on the Elgin quadrangle. 1,717 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,670 feet above sea level.
On record in Elgin
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 1 record
Elgin City Hall and Opera Houselisted 1980
Population over time
3 figuresElgin grew from 1,654 to 1,717 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,654 | |
| 2010 | 1,711 | +57 (+3%) |
| 2020 | 1,717 | +6 (+0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 10 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.
- 1955 USGS Grangeville quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Grangeville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS Elgin quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Wallowa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
29 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Elgin between 1992 and 2020, burning about 782 acres in total. 15 started naturally. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 acres | LaGrande District | PUMPKIN RIDGE |
| 20 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | LaGrande District | DARR CANYON |
| 8 August 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | LaGrande District | COFFIN #1 |
| 7 August 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17 acres | LaGrande District | GORDAN CREEK |
| 7 August 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.7 acres | LaGrande District | BEEHIVE |
| 7 August 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 680 acres | LaGrande District | RHINEHART |
| 7 August 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | LaGrande District | GORDON CREEK |
| 5 August 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Umatilla National Forest | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 37 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 37 workings within 5 miles of Elgin: 22 past producers, 13 producers, 2 occurrences. 13 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Diatomite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Creek | Diatomite | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Indian Creek Diatomite | Diatomite | Occurrence | ||
| Elgin | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Lough | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Philips Creek | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| West Quarry | Stone | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elgin in 23 storm reports between 1997 and 2019: 17 hail, 2 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 strong 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elgin | $5,000 | Reports of power outages due to downed tree limbs in the area north of Elgin. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elgin | - | Two large trees down across road. The road also had standing water and looked like a little river. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elgin | - | Nickel sized hail fell for 5 minutes and covered the ground. It was followed by an estimated 1/2 inch of rain in 10 to 15 minutes. |
| August 2009 | Heavy Rain | Elgin | - | Rainfall of 1.5 inches was observed. |
| May 1999 | Strong Wind | Elgin | - | Strong gusty winds knocked out power to about 550 residences in Elgin for around 1 1/2 hours. |
| August 1999 | Hail | Elgin | - | Nickled-sized hail covered the ground. |
| July 1998 | Lightning | Elgin | - | Lightning struck a power pole near a plywood mill in Elgin. The strike blew up a transformer and caused a pole fire and damaged electronic equipment in the plant. Part of the plant was not operating for a day because of the damaged equipment. |
| July 1997 | Lightning | Elgin | - | Lightning struck electrical equipment near an Elgin substation knocking out power to 1,100 customers. Lightning also hit a pole north of Elgin spliting it in half and blew fuses on the line. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Elgin | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Elgin | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Valley (historical) | 3.7 miles | 10 | |
| Elk Flat (historical) | 5.2 miles | 10 | |
| Summerville | 7.0 miles | 10 | |
| Imbler | 7.6 miles | 13 | |
| Cabin Creek (historical) | 8.7 miles | 12 | |
| Looking Glass (historical) | 10.8 miles | 12 | |
| Alicel | 11.6 miles | 13 | |
| Island City | 16.9 miles | 10 |
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 Elgin | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3050890 | 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 1141733. 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.



