Merlin, Oregon
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Northwest Josephine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97532. It stands on Louse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Merlin quadrangle. 1,690 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 907 feet above sea level.
On record in Merlin
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
Rand Ranger Stationlisted 1999
Reed-Cobb-Bowser House and Barnlisted 2017
Population over time
2 figuresMerlin grew from 1,615 to 1,690 between 2010 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,615 | |
| 2020 | 1,690 | +75 (+5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 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.
- 1904 USGS Riddle quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Glendale quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Merlin quadrangle1:24000
- 1989 USGS Canyonville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Merlin quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
553 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 553 fires within 5 miles of Merlin between 1992 and 2020, burning about 382 acres in total. 46 started naturally. 14 were 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 use | 126 |
| Debris and open burning | 89 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 |
| Smoking | 62 |
| Natural | 46 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 33 |
| Fireworks | 29 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 28 |
| Other causes | 27 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 21 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 6 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | HIGHLAND AVE |
| 9 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | HIGHLAND |
| 8 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | ROBERTSON BRIDGE |
| 8 September 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | SALLSTEN ROAD |
| 7 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Medford District | PORTLAND AVENUE |
| 7 September 2006 | Other causes | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | POTTS WAY 764 |
| 7 September 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | EAST CROW ROAD |
| 7 September 1995 | Other causes | under an acre | Grants Pass Unit | SUGARPINE DRIVE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 47 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 47 workings within 5 miles of Merlin: 19 past producers, 11 producers, 9 occurrences, 8 prospects. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molybdenum Occurrence | Copper, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Molybdenite | |
| Unnamed Molybdenum Occurrence | Copper, Molybdenum | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed P9it | Granite | Producer | ||
| White Wonder | Silica, Silver, Nickel, Gold, Copper | Prospect | ||
| Big Four Placer | Gold, Platinum | Past Producer | ||
| Big Four Placer | Gold, Platinum | Producer | Stream Placer | |
| Chrome Prospect | Chromium | Past Producer | ||
| Hibbard Prospect | Gold, Silver | Producer | Vein | |
| Hibbard Prospect | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Chromium | Prospect |
Storms near this place
2 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Merlin in 2 storm reports between 2005 and 2011: 1 heavy rain, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2011 | Hail | Merlin | - | Reported hail size close to golf balls with lots of lightning. |
| April 2005 | Heavy Rain | Merlin | - | A spotter 2 SSW of Merlin recorded 2.00 inches of rain in 45 minutes ending at 1655 PDT. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Valley | 3.3 miles | 17 | |
| Three Pines | 3.5 miles | 17 | |
| Hugo | 4.7 miles | 17 | |
| Redwood | 6.8 miles | 18 | |
| Grants Pass | 7.3 miles | 19 | |
| Leland | 8.4 miles | 17 | |
| Sunny Valley | 8.7 miles | 17 | |
| Fruitdale | 8.8 miles | 19 |
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 Merlin | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3458316 | 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 1166680. 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.







