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La Grande, Oregon

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the La Grande census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97850. It stands on Mill Creek. The Survey maps it on the La Grande quadrangle. 13,026 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,785 feet above sea level.

Research this city

La Grande within Union County

On record in La Grande

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 12 records

Population over time

3 figures

La Grande grew from 12,327 to 13,026 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
200012,327
201013,082+755 (+6%)
202013,026-56 (-0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 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

53 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of La Grande between 1992 and 2020, burning about 44 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
Recreation and ceremony16
Natural13
Debris and open burning7
Equipment and vehicle use4
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Smoking3
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Arson/incendiarism1
Fireworks1

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 2018Equipment and vehicle use3.5 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersROBS HILL
3 September 1995Naturalunder an acreLaGrande DistrictPEACH CREEK I
2 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLaGrande DistrictPREDATOR
2 September 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreLaGrande DistrictGLASS HILL
10 September 2017Naturalunder an acreOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersMILL CREEK
1 September 1995Smokingunder an acreLaGrande DistrictHUNTER
31 August 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreLaGrande DistrictDEALS CANYON
30 August 1997Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLaGrande DistrictATV II

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union 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 La Grande: 11 past producers, 8 producers, 2 occurrences. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Platinum. 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
La GrandePGEOccurrence
La Grande PitSand and Gravel, Construction, PlatinumOccurrenceSand and Gravel
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
La Grande PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Basalt QuarryStonePast Producer
Dry BeaverStonePast Producer
Dry Beaver PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

32 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Grande in 32 storm reports between 1997 and 2022: 11 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 3 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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
July 2004Thunderstorm WindLa Grande1 hurt, $300,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindLa Grande$30,000Strong winds associated with a thunderstorm knocked a ponderosa pine tree onto a four-year-old manufactured home. Two large tree limbs punched through a bedroom ceiling next to a bed, the bathroom, and a back TV room. The property damage from this event is estimated at $30,000.
August 2001LightningLa Grande$20,000Lightning struck a house in La Grande, completely blowing out all the electrical and telephone outlets.
July 2004Flash FloodLa Grande$5,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindLa Grande$2,000A thunderstorm moved northeast through LaGrande toppling trees, snapping limbs, and downing power lines. Hail and heavy rainfall with the storm dropped visibility to near zero, causing minor street flooding and a bicycle-vehicle accident which injured bicycle rider. A baseball game in the Babe Ruth State Tournament was stopped for two hours.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindLa Grande$1,000A thunderstorm produced pea sized hail, blew down trees, and knocked out power to residents.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindLa Grande$50Two inch diameter tree limbs downed.
August 2022HailLa Grande-A social media report from Facebook report from La Grande, OR indicated that hailstones larger than a quarter and up to the size of 1.5 inches had fallen around 2:50pm on the 11th. Further upstream, a trained spotter 1 mile southeast of Imbler, OR reported hailstones up to 1.25 inches. A measured wind gust to 60 mph occurred at the La Grande Airport.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindLa Grande-Four inch and larger diameter tree branches down at the baseball field in La Grande due to thunderstorm winds.
July 2012HailLa Grande-Dime to golfball sized hail reported.
June 2011Heavy RainLa Grande-Rainfall of 1.61 inches fell in 1.5 hours.
June 2010HailLa Grande-Hail accompanied by 40-50 mph winds. Spotter also observed a wall cloud about 5 miles south of LaGrande.
August 2006LightningLa Grande-A power pole was struck and 120 residents lost power for 35 minutes.
May 2004Heavy RainLa Grande-A portion of Morgan Lake Road washed out as excess run-off caused the shoulder to drop away, bending the guard rail out from the road. The property damage from this event is estimated at $5,000.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindLa Grande-Numerous trees were reported down north and west of La Grande.
July 2002HailLa Grande-In addition to the hail, strong wind gusts caused numerous minor power outages in the Grande Ronde Valley according to Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative.
September 1998LightningLa Grande-Lightning truck a tree in the Hillcrest Cemetery. The bolt cut all the bark off one side of the tree in an eight inch strip from the top of the tree to the ground. The strip of bark and wood landed on the ground at a right angle. Some pieces of bark and wood came to rest 100 feet away.
May 1998HailLa Grande-Hail up to 1 1/4 inches fell in the La Grande area. Up to 0.52 inches of rain fell in 20 minutes. Hail was still on the ground two hours later along a seven mile stretch of I-84 west of La Grande.
June 1998Flash FloodLa Grande-A sudden downpour caused flooding in southeast La Grande. Two creeks overflowed their banks closing several streets for nearly three hours. At least two houses had flood damage. Sand bags were used to try to keep water away from houses.
July 1998Heavy RainLa Grande-Up to 1.50 inches of rain fell in 20 minutes. 0.25 inches of rain fell in only two minutes. Wind gusts to 50 mph were also reported. The result was a flooded underpass and several inches of water flowing along La Grande streets. Eight hundred to a thousand residents had power outages for several hours. The storm nearly wiped out crops in a 1 1/2 to 2 mile wide by 6 to 7 mile long strip between Island City and Cove.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindLa Grande-A tree limb blown into a power substation tripped a braker leaving 1,950 customers without power for just over an hour.
June 2019HailLa Grande-no account filed
May 2015HailLa Grande-no account filed
May 2015HailLa Grande-no account filed
May 2015Funnel CloudLa Grande-no account filed
July 2012Funnel CloudLa Grande-no account filed
July 2012HailLa Grande-no account filed
May 2006HailLa Grande-no account filed
May 2006HailLa Grande-no account filed
September 2004LightningLa Grande-no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindLa Grande-no account filed
July 2004Funnel CloudLa Grande-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
Island City2.5 miles10
Perry4.5 miles10
Hilgard7.7 miles10
Alicel7.9 miles13
Hot Lake8.8 miles12
Imbler11.4 miles13
Summerville12.2 miles10
Union14.3 miles12

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 La GrandeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1645049The 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 1164107. 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.