Seneca, Oregon
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Seneca census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97873. It stands on Shirttail Creek. The Survey maps it on the Seneca quadrangle. 165 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,690 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresSeneca fell from 223 to 165 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 | 223 | |
| 2010 | 199 | -24 (-11%) |
| 2020 | 165 | -34 (-17%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 12 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.
- 1955 USGS Canyon City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Canyon City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Seneca quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS John Day quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1990 USGS Seneca quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Seneca quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
66 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 66 fires within 5 miles of Seneca between 1992 and 2017, burning about 46 acres in total. 32 started naturally. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 32 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Malheur National Forest | 13444 |
| 5 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Malheur National Forest | 13417 |
| 29 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 19 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | BEAR CREEK |
| 25 September 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | John Day Unit | SILVIES RIVER |
| 9 August 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | John Day Unit | SHIRTTAIL |
| 8 August 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Malheur National Forest | OR-MAF-109 |
| 8 August 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Malheur National Forest | OR-MAF-096 |
| 7 August 2008 | Natural | under an acre | Malheur National Forest | OR-MAF-206 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Seneca: 3 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 plant, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Chromium, Asbestos. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Valley | Asbestos | Occurrence | 1953 | |
| Bear Valley | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| George Len Lode | Chromium | Occurrence | Podiform | |
| George Len Lode | Chromium | Prospect | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Stone | Plant |
Storms near this place
4 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seneca in 4 storm reports between 2002 and 2018: 2 wildfire, 1 heavy rain, 1 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Seneca | - | From southbound Highway 395, north of Seneca, a member of the public observed a brief funnel cloud from a thunderstorm. The funnel cloud lasted approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Heavy rain and pea sized hail also occurred. |
| June 2010 | Heavy Rain | Seneca | - | Training showers and thunderstorms produced 1.25 inches of rainfall. Small hail to 1/4 inch was observed for a few minutes. |
| July 2002 | Wildfire | Seneca | - | The Monument Complex Fire, started by lightning, consumed 16,063 acres in Grant and Baker Counties. The fire was not controlled until August 19th. |
| July 2002 | Wildfire | Seneca | - | The Malheur Complex Fire was a lightning sparked fire that burned 19,367 acres. The fire was not contolled until August 19th. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silvies | 7.3 miles | 12 | |
| Canyon City | 17.6 miles | 15 | |
| John Day | 19.4 miles | 15 | |
| Mount Vernon | 20.9 miles | 14 | |
| Izee | 22.5 miles | 12 | |
| Prairie City | 26.6 miles | 14 | |
| Beech Creek | 34.7 miles | 13 | |
| Three Forks | 36.3 miles | 15 |
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 Seneca | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2881469 | 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 1149228. 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.





