Milton-Freewater, Oregon
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Milton-Freewater census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97862. It lies near Columbia Heights. The Survey maps it on the Milton-Freewater quadrangle. 7,151 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,070 feet above sea level.
On record in Milton-Freewater
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 6 records
Central Schoollisted 2010
Columbia Collegelisted 2004
Still-Perkins Houselisted 1993
Walla Walla Valley Traction Company Passenger Station and Powerhouselisted 1993- Williams Frazier Farmsteadlisted 1986
- J.L. Elam Banklisted 2024
Population over time
7 figuresMilton-Freewater grew from 4,110 to 7,151 between 1960 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 4,110 | |
| 1970 | 4,105 | -5 (-0%) |
| 1980 | 5,086 | +981 (+24%) |
| 1990 | 5,533 | +447 (+9%) |
| 2000 | 6,470 | +937 (+17%) |
| 2010 | 7,050 | +580 (+9%) |
| 2020 | 7,151 | +101 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 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.
- 1953 USGS Pendleton quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Pendleton quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Milton-Freewater quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Pendleton quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
5 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Milton-Freewater between 1992 and 2018, burning about 2,502 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wallowa-Whitman National Forest | MANN |
| 5 September 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Wallowa-Whitman National Forest | INC 858 |
| 3 August 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 acres | Pendleton Unit | BOWLUS HILL |
| 17 July 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 362 acres | Pendleton Unit | NORTH FORK OF WALLA WALL |
| 13 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,060 acres | Umatilla Agency | MILTON-FREEWATER ASSIST |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 34 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 34 workings within 5 miles of Milton-Freewater: 24 past producers, 10 producers. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Geothermal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mf Pit and Plant | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Well | Geothermal | Producer | ||
| Blue Mtn Station | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Casper Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Komen Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Mf Pit and Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Blue Mtn Station | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Casper Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Eastside Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Eastside Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
10 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Milton-Freewater in 10 storm reports between 2004 and 2022: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2020 | Flood | Milton Freewater | 1 killed, $39,700,000 | Umatilla County There was record flooding along the entire reach of the Umatilla River. There was extensive damage to areas along the river, including homes, roads including Interstate 84, railroads as well as other public facilities such as parks and sports complexes. Along the upper reaches of the river, roads were washed out with homes damaged or destroyed. One resident was swept away by flood waters and died. A number of residents had to be evacuated via helicopter or 4 wheeler with 70 homes on the Umatilla Indian Reservation damaged. The Riverview Mobile Home Park at Pendleton was inundated. There was minimal to no damage through Pendleton, due to the levee, but the Bob White Baseball field had extensive damage as water overtopped a low wall. Adjacent to Pendleton, the levee was damaged and overtopped with water flowing through the Keystone RV Manufacturing plant and the Colby Pipe Company. Several bridges and roads downstream from Reith to Echo were damaged or washed out with a number of homes damaged. Downstream from Echo to the confluence of Columbia River, the river rose out of the banks and flooded Interstate 84 between Highway 395 and Highway 208. Several semi-trucks were stranded in the flood waters with extensive damage to the highway. Numerous pastures and buildings along the river through Stanfield were flooded with extensive damage to Oxbow Park in Hermiston and to a sports complex in Umatilla. There was extensive flooding as well as on the Walla Walla River from the headwaters through Milton Freewater and on the upper reaches of Mill Creek. Numerous levees along the Umatilla and Walla Walla Rivers were damaged or overtopped including near Milton Freewater, several locations on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and adjacent to Pendleton. Damage is estimated at 1.3 million dollars to private property on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, with damage for public infrastructure for the entire county at 39.7 million dollars.||Umatilla at Pendleton Flood stage is 12.3 feet. The river rose above flood stage on February 6th 1230 pm, crested at 19.18 feet on February 6th at 10 pm, then fell below flood stage on February 8th at 11am. This was a record peak flow of 19,400 cfs. Highway 11(major access way to Pendleton) was closed due to water flowing over the road. Several bridges and roads downstream from Reith to Echo were damaged or washed out with a number of homes damaged. Umatilla near Gibbon Flood Stage is 7.0 feet. The river rose above flood stage on February 6th, at 2 am, crested at 12.14 feet on February 6th, at 130 pm, then fell below flood stage on February 8th at 645 pm. This was a record peak flow of 13,900 cfs. There was extensive damage along the upstream portions of the river with over 70 homes damaged, roads and railroad tracks washed out, levee damaged or washed out. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Milton Freewater | - | A NWS Storm Survey conducted the day after the event revealed areas of isolated down trees and tree branches, where one of the downed trees had landed on a home. There was also an area of corn crops that had been blown over in a unidirectional manner. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Milton Freewater | - | A downburst occurred from a strong thunderstorm that affected several unoccupied, parked mobile homes. One of the mobile homes was lifted 30 feet into a neighboring mobile home, destroying the lifted mobile home. Other mobile homes suffered some roof and other structural damage, as evidenced from broken glass and insulation around the site. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Milton Freewater | - | Spotter reported 10 inch diameter tree down. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Milton Freewater | - | Spotter reported many cottonwood trees on the neighbors property damaged with tops broken off from high winds. |
| June 2010 | Heavy Rain | Milton Freewater | - | Late frost and heavy rainfall caused at $3.5 million loss to the cherry crop around Milton-Freewater. |
| April 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Milton Freewater | - | Resident observed funnel cloud form and dissipate over golf course. |
| June 2004 | Hail | Milton Freewater | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Milton Freewater | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Milton Freewater | - | 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.
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 Milton-Freewater | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2401051 | 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 1167716. 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.



