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Rufus, Oregon

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Wasco census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97050. It lies near Scott Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Rufus quadrangle. 268 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 235 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Rufus within Sherman County

Population over time

3 figures

Rufus grew from 268 to 268 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
2000268
2010249-19 (-7%)
2020268+19 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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

7 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Rufus between 2003 and 2019, burning about 7,116 acres in total. None 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/undetermined5
Debris and open burning1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined350 acresPrineville District0588
16 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1,200 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
2 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,100 acresWashington State Fire Marshal's OfficeJUNCTION FIRE
30 June 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined300 acresPrineville DistrictMUD HLOW 2
11 June 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined3,000 acresPrineville District0218
11 June 2014Debris and open burning16 acresPrineville District0138
10 June 2019Equipment and vehicle use150 acresPrineville District0270

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sherman County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Rufus: 7 past producers, 4 producers, 1 plant. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Gemstone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Aluminum, Contained or Metal. 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
(Facility) Goldendale Aluminum SmelterAluminum, Contained or MetalPlant
China HollowSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
China HollowSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gemstones MineGemstonePast Producer
Gemstones MineGemstonePast Producer
Jasper MineGemstonePast Producer
Jasper MineGemstoneProducer

Every working recorded in Sherman County

Storms near this place

3 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rufus in 3 storm reports between 2003 and 2024: 2 thunderstorm wind, 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
August 2024Thunderstorm WindRufus-Mesonet stations along I-84 recorded wind gusts as high as 79 mph in Sherman County.
August 2003Flash FloodRufus-Heavy rain led to some flash flooding in the city of Rufus. City hall, emergency services, three residential basements experienced some flooding. In addition, some road damage was also reported.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindRufus-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sherman 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
Thornberry4.6 miles10
Biggs Junction5.4 miles10
Locust Grove7.2 miles9
Wasco7.4 miles11
Sinks (historical)8.4 miles9
Early (historical)8.8 miles10
Klondike10.1 miles9
Emigrant Springs (historical)10.5 miles9

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 RufusAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458899The 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 1167721. 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.