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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.

Fossil within Wheeler County

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

Population over time

3 figures

Fossil 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.

YearPeople Change
2000469
2010473+4 (+1%)
2020447-26 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

24 since 1992

Regional 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
Natural13
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Smoking1
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
3 September 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreJohn Day UnitCLYMER CANYON
3 September 1992Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreJohn Day UnitBLACK BUTTE RD
22 September 1995Smoking50 acresJohn Day UnitBLACK BUTTE
7 August 2006Naturalunder an acreJohn Day UnitSUMMER CANYON
22 August 1993Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreJohn Day UnitBLACK BUTTE
17 August 2016Arson/incendiarism2.8 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersBLACK BUTTE
14 August 2001Natural1.5 acresJohn Day UnitSTEERS CANYON
12 August 2017Natural1.3 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersCLUBFOOT HOLLOW

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Wheeler County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Fossil Rock ProductStonePast Producer
Fossil Rock Products PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Wheeler County

Storms near this place

8 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2003Thunderstorm WindFossil$1,000A power pole was blown down due to strong winds. In addition, 0.50 inches of rain fell in 15-20 minutes.
April 2012HailFossil-Observer also reported minor flooding on Butte Creek. The hail caused damage to an RV.
June 2006HailFossil-Power lines downed.
July 1998HailFossil-Dize sized hail fell in Fossil with heavy rain.
May 2015HailFossil-no account filed
August 2004HailFossil-no account filed
June 1999HailFossil-no account filed
June 1999HailFossil-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wheeler 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
Kinzua (historical)8.4 miles11
Lost Valley (historical)12.1 miles9
Service Creek17.7 miles11
Twickenham17.7 miles12
Waldron (historical)21.4 miles12
Richmond21.9 miles10
Spray25.0 miles10
Mitchell30.0 miles13

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 FossilAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2293692The 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.