Fossil, Oregon
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1926 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Fossil census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97830. It stands on Cottonwood Creek. The Survey maps it on the Fossil South quadrangle. 447 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,654 feet above sea level.
On record in Fossil
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 2 records
Thomas Benton Hoover Houselisted 1978- Fossil Public Schoollisted 2013
Population over time
3 figuresFossil fell from 469 to 447 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 | 469 | |
| 2010 | 473 | +4 (+1%) |
| 2020 | 447 | -26 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1926 USGS Mitchell quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Bend quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Bend quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Bend quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Kinzua quadrangle1:62500
- 1981 USGS Stephenson Mountain quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Fossil South quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
24 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Fossil between 1992 and 2018, burning about 1,223 acres in total. 13 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | John Day Unit | CLYMER CANYON |
| 3 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | John Day Unit | BLACK BUTTE RD |
| 22 September 1995 | Smoking | 50 acres | John Day Unit | BLACK BUTTE |
| 7 August 2006 | Natural | under an acre | John Day Unit | SUMMER CANYON |
| 22 August 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | John Day Unit | BLACK BUTTE |
| 17 August 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.8 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | BLACK BUTTE |
| 14 August 2001 | Natural | 1.5 acres | John Day Unit | STEERS CANYON |
| 12 August 2017 | Natural | 1.3 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | CLUBFOOT HOLLOW |
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 Fossil: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fossil Rock Product | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Fossil Rock Products Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fossil in 8 storm reports between 1998 and 2015: 7 hail, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fossil | $1,000 | A power pole was blown down due to strong winds. In addition, 0.50 inches of rain fell in 15-20 minutes. |
| April 2012 | Hail | Fossil | - | Observer also reported minor flooding on Butte Creek. The hail caused damage to an RV. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Fossil | - | Power lines downed. |
| July 1998 | Hail | Fossil | - | Dize sized hail fell in Fossil with heavy rain. |
| May 2015 | Hail | Fossil | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Fossil | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Fossil | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Fossil | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinzua (historical) | 8.4 miles | 11 | |
| Lost Valley (historical) | 12.1 miles | 9 | |
| Service Creek | 17.7 miles | 11 | |
| Twickenham | 17.7 miles | 12 | |
| Waldron (historical) | 21.4 miles | 12 | |
| Richmond | 21.9 miles | 10 | |
| Spray | 25.0 miles | 10 | |
| Mitchell | 30.0 miles | 13 |
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 Fossil | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2293692 | 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 1120903. 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.






