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Prairie City, Oregon

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Prairie City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97869. It stands on Dixie Creek. The Survey maps it on the Prairie City quadrangle. 841 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,535 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Prairie City within Grant County

On record in Prairie City

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 1 record

Population over time

3 figures

Prairie City fell from 1,080 to 841 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
20001,080
2010909-171 (-16%)
2020841-68 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 14 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

26 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Prairie City between 1993 and 2019, burning about 191 acres in total. 15 started naturally. 3 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
Natural15
Arson/incendiarism3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Debris and open burning2
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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
8 September 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreJohn Day UnitSHANGRILA
30 September 2011Natural19 acresJohn Day UnitHALL HILL II
3 August 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acrePrineville DistrictDIXIE
3 August 1997Natural1.0 acresMalheur National ForestOR-MAF-185
24 August 1999Naturalunder an acreJohn Day UnitKEYSTONE MINE #2
23 August 1999Naturalunder an acreJohn Day UnitKEYSTONE MINE
20 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined156 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersJERRYS DRAW
20 August 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreJohn Day UnitFAIMAN SPRING

Every fire recorded in Grant County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 44 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 44 workings within 5 miles of Prairie City: 16 past producers, 12 occurrences, 8 prospects, 6 producers. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Blue Bell ClaimSilver, GoldOccurrence
Blue Bell ClaimGold, SilverUnknown
Comini QuarriesGranitePast Producer
Dixie Queen PropertyGold, Silver, Lead, CopperProspect
Haley ClaimGold, CopperPast Producer
Last Chance GroupGold, Zinc, Silver, Nickel, Lead, Copper, CobaltProspect
Standard & Other MinesGold, Copper, Cobalt, BismuthOccurrence
Unnamed Uranium OccurrenceGold, Uranium, Silver, CopperOccurrence
Unnamed Uranium OccurrenceGold, Copper, Uranium, SilverOccurrence
Uranium OccurrenceSilver, Copper, Uranium, GoldOccurrenceChalcopyrite, Pyrite

Every working recorded in Grant County

Storms near this place

10 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Prairie City in 10 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 1 flash flood. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2025FloodPrairie City-The Grant County Emergency Manager reported high water over the US Route 26 at milepost 173 between John Day and Prairie City.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindPrairie City-Social media reported huge pine trees uprooted and marble-sized hail.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindPrairie City-Agrimet station reported 66 mph wind gust.
June 2010FloodPrairie City-Spotter reported flooding from Indian Creek along Indian Creek Road and surrounding fields.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindPrairie City-Gusts to 60 mph knocked down several trees in the Prairie City area. Some of the fallen trees knocked down power lines.
September 2003WildfirePrairie City-The Bull Springs 2 Fire was a lightning sparked fire which burned 1,266 acres. The estimated cost of containing the blaze was $1,422,000.
June 1998Flash FloodPrairie City-Flash flooding was reported over Highway 26 in eastern Grant County. An RV park in Prairie City also flooded.
July 2007HailPrairie City-no account filed
July 2007HailPrairie City-no account filed
July 2004HailPrairie City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Grant 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
John Day13.3 miles15
Canyon City13.7 miles15
Bates13.9 miles12
Austin14.8 miles14
Susanville17.7 miles12
Galena18.0 miles12
Robinsonville21.0 miles14
Mount Vernon21.6 miles14

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 Prairie CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458885The 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 1147975. 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.