Nehalem, Oregon
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1937 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Nehalem census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97131. It stands on Tubessing Creek. The Survey maps it on the Nehalem quadrangle. 270 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 11 feet above sea level.
On record in Nehalem
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
A. E. Doyle Cottagelisted 1991
Mary Frances Isom Cottagelisted 1991
Population over time
3 figuresNehalem grew from 203 to 270 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 | 203 | |
| 2010 | 271 | +68 (+33%) |
| 2020 | 270 | -1 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 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.
- 1937 USGS Nehalem quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Nehalem quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000
- 1950 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Nehalem quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1964 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Nehalem River quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Nehalem quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
46 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Nehalem between 1992 and 2020, burning about 72 acres in total. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2006 | Smoking | under an acre | Tillamook District | JETTY CREEK |
| 8 September 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Tillamook District | KNOB FIRE |
| 25 September 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Tillamook District | FOSS |
| 23 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Tillamook District | MANZANITA LOG PILE |
| 23 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Tillamook District | BAYSIDE FIRE |
| 21 September 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Tillamook District | TRESLE FIRE |
| 21 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Tillamook District | CONSTRUCTION BURN |
| 18 September 2004 | Natural | under an acre | Tillamook District | SITKA LIGHTNING |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 19 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Nehalem: 12 past producers, 7 producers. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Mohler Pit & Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Neahkahnie Mtn Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Nehalem Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Old Nehalem Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Pit 442 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Pit 443 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Sturm Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nehalem in 14 storm reports between 2006 and 2025: 11 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2006 | Flood | Nehalem | $1,000,000 | The Nehalem River near Foss crested at 19.8 feet on November 7th, with flood stage at 13.5 feet. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Nehalem | $241,000 | The Wilson River near Tillamook, The Trask River near Tillamook, and The Nehalem River near Foss exceeded flood stage. high water from these rivers resulted in the closure of several roads including Highway 101. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Nehalem | $220,000 | Heavy rain resulted in urban flooding and several landslides throughout Tillamook County. |
| March 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nehalem | $24,000 | Thunderstorms and lightning damaged four homes in Nehalem Bay. The homes sustained shingle damage from lightning. One home was heavily damaged with one wall and window blown out. |
| November 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nehalem | - | Mesonet station PC441 1080 measured a peak wind gusts of 60 mph at 1300 on Nov 5th coinciding with the passage of the Severe Thunderstorm. |
| February 2022 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Measured 3 to 6 inches of rainfall. Minor flooding occurred along the Nehalem River near Foss. No damages were reported. |
| March 2012 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Heavy rain caused the Nehalem River near Foss, Oregon to overflow its banks and flood low lying areas. The Nehalem River crested at 14.9 feet on March 30th at 11 am PDT, 0.9 feet above flood stage. |
| March 2012 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Heavy rain combined with snowmelt runoff causing the Nehalem River near Foss, Oregon to overflow its banks and flood low lying areas. The Nehalem River crested at 15.5 feet on March 15th at 5 pm PDT, 1.5 feet above flood stage. |
| November 2012 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Heavy rain resulted in the Nehalem River overflowing its banks and flooding surrounding low-level areas. The Nehalem River at Foss crested at 17.3 feet on November 19th at 3 pm 3.3 feet above flood stage. |
| January 2011 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Heavy rain that fell over the Coast Range combined with snowmelt runoff resulting in the flooding of the Nehalem River. The Nehalem River at Foss crested at 15.9 feet on January 16th at 19:06 PST. |
| January 2009 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Heavy rain caused the Nehalem river to rise above flood stage resulting in the closure of highway 101 through Nehalem. |
| January 2009 | Flood | Nehalem | - | Highway 101 in Nehalem was reported closed due to high water. Heavy rain that fell over the Coast Range combined with snowmelt runoff resulted in the flooding of the Nehalem River. |
| January 2006 | Flood | Nehalem | - | no account filed |
| January 2006 | Flood | Nehalem | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayside Gardens | 1.2 miles | 17 | |
| Mohler | 1.9 miles | 16 | |
| Manzanita | 2.2 miles | 17 | |
| Wheeler | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Neahkahnie | 2.4 miles | 17 | |
| Wheeler Heights | 2.4 miles | 17 | |
| Neahkahnie Beach | 2.6 miles | 17 | |
| Brighton | 3.6 miles | 17 |
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 Nehalem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2379768 | 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 1136565. 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.








