BlockBefore

Gaston, Oregon

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Chehalem Mountains census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97119. It stands on Black Jack Creek. The Survey maps it on the Gaston quadrangle. 676 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 300 feet above sea level.

Gaston within Washington County

On record in Gaston

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

Population over time

3 figures

Gaston grew from 600 to 676 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
2000600
2010637+37 (+6%)
2020676+39 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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

39 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 39 fires within 5 miles of Gaston between 1992 and 2020, burning about 156 acres in total. 4 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
Equipment and vehicle use14
Debris and open burning11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Natural4
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
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
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined126 acresForest Grove UnitPOWERLINE ROAD MUTUAL AID
5 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersHWY 47 MCLOUGHLIN FIRE
29 September 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreForest Grove DistrictSOUTH ROAD FIRE
25 September 2003Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreForest Grove DistrictLINCOLN AVENUE FIRE
24 September 2007Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreForest Grove DistrictGOODIN CREEK FIRE #2
24 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresForest Grove DistrictPLEASANT SMITH BARN FIRE
19 September 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersPONDEROSA FIRE
9 August 1997Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresForest Grove DistrictOLSON ROAD FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Gaston: 15 past producers, 6 producers. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
Forest Grove Clay Products CoClayPast Producer
Forest Grove Clay Products Co.ClayPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gaston/Person QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Hergert QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Laurelwood QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Plant #2Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Scoggins Dam PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

5 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gaston in 5 storm reports between 2007 and 2023: 1 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 funnel cloud. 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
March 2016Thunderstorm WindGaston$3,000Straight line winds from a thunderstorm blew off a roof from an outbuilding at Ananda Laurelwood Retreat near Gaston.
March 2023Funnel CloudGaston-Picture showing what appears to be a narrow funnel cloud near Bald Peak Road in Washington County.
March 2023HailGaston-Hail size of 0.75 inch was estimated from picture posted on social media.
January 2021FloodGaston-The Tualatin River at Dilley (DLLO3) rose above flood stage at 2330PST on the 12th, crested at 18.09 feet, then fell below flood stage at 0330PST on the 14th. Flood stage is 17.5 feet.
December 2007Heavy RainGaston-Storm total precipitation was 7.65 inches.

Every storm recorded in Washington 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
Patton0.8 miles16
Laurelwood3.2 miles17
Dilley3.9 miles17
Carnation5.3 miles18
Cherry Grove5.6 miles16
Blooming5.9 miles17
Forest Grove6.0 miles18
Cornelius7.2 miles18

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 GastonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458912The 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 1157988. 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.