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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.

Seneca within Grant County

Population over time

3 figures

Seneca 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.

YearPeople Change
2000223
2010199-24 (-11%)
2020165-34 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

66 since 1992

Regional 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
Natural32
Recreation and ceremony16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Arson/incendiarism4
Debris and open burning4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Smoking2

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
6 September 2013Naturalunder an acreMalheur National Forest13444
5 September 2013Naturalunder an acreMalheur National Forest13417
29 September 2016Equipment and vehicle use19 acresOregon Department of Forestry Salem HeadquartersBEAR CREEK
25 September 1996Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresJohn Day UnitSILVIES RIVER
9 August 1997Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresJohn Day UnitSHIRTTAIL
8 August 2006Naturalunder an acreMalheur National ForestOR-MAF-109
8 August 2006Naturalunder an acreMalheur National ForestOR-MAF-096
7 August 2008Naturalunder an acreMalheur National ForestOR-MAF-206

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Grant County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bear ValleyAsbestosOccurrence1953
Bear ValleyAsbestosOccurrence
George Len LodeChromiumOccurrencePodiform
George Len LodeChromiumProspect
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
QuarryStonePast Producer
Unnamed PitStonePlant

Every working recorded in Grant County

Storms near this place

4 since 2002

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2018Funnel CloudSeneca-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 2010Heavy RainSeneca-Training showers and thunderstorms produced 1.25 inches of rainfall. Small hail to 1/4 inch was observed for a few minutes.
July 2002WildfireSeneca-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 2002WildfireSeneca-The Malheur Complex Fire was a lightning sparked fire that burned 19,367 acres. The fire was not contolled until August 19th.

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
Silvies7.3 miles12
Canyon City17.6 miles15
John Day19.4 miles15
Mount Vernon20.9 miles14
Izee22.5 miles12
Prairie City26.6 miles14
Beech Creek34.7 miles13
Three Forks36.3 miles15

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 SenecaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2881469The 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.