Riddle, Oregon
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Myrtle Creek-Riddle census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97469. It stands on Judd Creek. The Survey maps it on the Canyonville quadrangle. 1,214 people lived here at the 2020 count.
On record in Riddle
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
Will Q. Brown House and Wash Houselisted 1987
Population over time
2 figuresRiddle grew from 1,185 to 1,214 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 | 1,185 | |
| 2020 | 1,214 | +29 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 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 Canyonville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Medford quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Canyonville quadrangle1:24000
- 1989 USGS Canyonville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
128 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 128 fires within 5 miles of Riddle between 1992 and 2020, burning about 62 acres in total. 23 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 26 |
| Natural | 23 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Roseburg District | JUDD CREEK |
| 28 September 1996 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | WEAVER ROAD FIRE |
| 25 September 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | HANNA |
| 22 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | THOMPSON RD. |
| 20 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | WEAVER ROAD |
| 2 September 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | COUNCIL CREEK |
| 2 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | BOOMER HILL |
| 19 September 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Douglas Forest Protective Association | ROD & GUN CLUB ROAD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 39 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 39 workings within 5 miles of Riddle: 20 past producers, 14 producers, 2 occurrences, 2 prospects. 15 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Nickel, Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Nickel Mountain Smelter Complex | Nickel, Iron | Plant | ||
| Beaver Spring | Silver, Gold, Copper, Zinc | Occurrence | Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Beaver Spring | Copper, Zinc, Gold, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Hanna Nickel Mine | Nickel, Cobalt, Chromium, Iron | Past Producer | 1865, 1954 | |
| Judd Creek Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Levan's Ledge | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrite | |
| Levans Ledge Mine | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Nickel Mountain | Nickel, Cobalt, Platinum, Palladium, Ruthenium, Rhodium, Iridium | Producer | 1864, 1882 | |
| Nickel Mountain Group | Nickel, Chromium, Rhodium, PGE | Producer | 1864, 1954 | |
| Riddle Mine | Nickel, Iron, Cobalt | Producer | 1864, 1954, 1983 |
Storms near this place
1 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Riddle in 1 storm report in 2015: 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2015 | Flood | Riddle | - | Cow Creek at Riddle exceeded the flood stage of 22.0 feet at 06/1445 PST. The stream crested at 24.29 feet at 06/1800 PST. The stream dropped below flood stage at 06/2145 PST. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surprise Valley | 2.9 miles | 15 | |
| Tri-City | 3.6 miles | 15 | |
| Canyonville | 4.7 miles | 15 | |
| Weaver | 4.8 miles | 17 | |
| Myrtle Creek | 6.1 miles | 17 | |
| Gazley | 6.4 miles | 16 | |
| Round Prairie | 9.5 miles | 17 | |
| Peck | 10.0 miles | 16 |
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 Riddle | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2329899 | 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 1166702. 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.






