Joseph, Oregon
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Joseph census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97846. It stands on Newby Creek. The Survey maps it on the Joseph quadrangle. 1,154 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,190 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Joseph
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 5 records
Nez Perce Traditional Site, Wallowa LakeNational Historic Landmark · listed 1989
Dr. J. W. Barnard Building and First National Bank of Josephlisted 1991
Billy Meadows Guard Stationlisted 1991
Kirkland Lookout Ground House (Guard Station)listed 1991- First Bank of Josephlisted 1978
Population over time
3 figuresJoseph grew from 1,054 to 1,154 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 | 1,054 | |
| 2010 | 1,081 | +27 (+3%) |
| 2020 | 1,154 | +73 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 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
- 1957 USGS Joseph quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Grangeville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Enterprise quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Joseph quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
51 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Joseph between 1995 and 2019, burning about 50 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Natural | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.3 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | AIRPORT |
| 25 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Wallowa Unit | JOSPEH |
| 2 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | CENTURY LANE |
| 14 September 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | LEWIS |
| 11 September 1997 | Natural | under an acre | Wallowa Unit | HURRICANE SWITCHBACK |
| 5 August 2009 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Wallowa-Whitman National Forest | DRAGON |
| 5 August 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Wallowa-Whitman National Forest | HURRICANE CRK CMPFIR |
| 3 August 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Wallowa Unit | HERSHEY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 32 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 32 workings within 5 miles of Joseph: 11 past producers, 10 occurrences, 10 prospects, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falls Creek Forest Camp | Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Silver | Occurrence | Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Good Enough Prospect | Lead, Silver, Zinc, Gold, Copper | Occurrence | 1909 | |
| Hard Climb Prospect | Zinc, Copper, Silver, Gold, Lead | Occurrence | Galena, Sphalerite | |
| Hard Climb Prospect | Copper, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Joseph Mountain Mine | Lead, Silver, Gold, Copper, Molybdenum, Zinc | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Joseph Mountain Mines | Copper, Silver, Molybdenum, Zinc, Lead, Gold | Prospect | ||
| Kipp-Freeman | Copper, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Pyrite | |
| Kipp-Freeman Prospect | Copper, Molybdenum | Prospect | ||
| Old Time Prospect | Gold, Silver, Copper | Prospect | ||
| Old Timer Prospect | Gold, Silver, Copper | Occurrence | Vein |
Storms near this place
16 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Joseph in 16 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 5 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2002 | Flash Flood | Joseph | $1,000,000 | The Wallowa County Sheriff's Office confirmed a mudslide near the Blue Mountain Council Boy Scout Camp at the south end of Wallowa Lake. The mudslide destroyed a dining hall near the boy scout camp. The debri flow in the lake was several feet thick. The mudslide swept away several trees and damaged three vehicles in its path. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Joseph | - | A thunderstorm developed over the Wallowa Mountains late in the afternoon of April 14, moving northwest into more populated areas of the Wallowa Valley, such as Joseph and Lostine. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Joseph | - | Nickle to quarter size hail covering the ground in Joseph. |
| October 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Joseph | - | Trained Spotter Estimated a 70 MPH wind gust. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Joseph | - | Thunderstorm downed four large trees at the Scout Camp south of Wallowa Lake. |
| August 2003 | Wildfire | Joseph | - | The Lightning Complex Fire was a lightning sparked fire which burned 16,028 acres, destroying one structure. The fire burned shrubs, grass, and timber. The cost of fighting the fire topped 1.1 million dollars. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Joseph | - | Numerous trees reported down countywide. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Joseph | - | One inch hail, along with gusty winds, was reported at an elevation of 4200 feet. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Flash Flood | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Flash Flood | Joseph | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Lightning | Joseph | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alder (historical) | 4.7 miles | 10 | |
| Enterprise | 5.6 miles | 10 | |
| Armin (historical) | 12.8 miles | 11 | |
| Lostine | 14.0 miles | 10 | |
| Evans | 14.4 miles | 11 | |
| Wallowa | 21.7 miles | 10 | |
| Fruita | 21.9 miles | 11 | |
| Zumwalt | 23.5 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 Joseph | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2729524 | 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 1144403. 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.




