Spray, Oregon
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Mitchell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97874. It stands on Cry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Spray quadrangle. 139 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,772 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresSpray fell from 140 to 139 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 | 140 | |
| 2010 | 160 | +20 (+14%) |
| 2020 | 139 | -21 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1953 USGS Spray quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Canyon City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Canyon City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Monument quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Spray quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
20 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Spray between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,943 acres in total. 12 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 12 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | KAHLER BASIN |
| 6 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | John Day Unit | DOWN LINE |
| 8 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Prineville District | 0776 |
| 8 August 2008 | Natural | 12 acres | John Day Unit | SOURDOUGH |
| 5 August 2019 | Natural | 15 acres | Prineville District | SHADY GROVE |
| 26 August 2013 | Natural | 3.4 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | HIGH SPRING |
| 25 August 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | HILL SPRING |
| 17 August 2018 | Natural | 100 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | RICKS CREEK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Spray: 5 past producers, 4 producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Spray/Kimberly Hwy | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Spray/Kimberly Hwy Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Basalt Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Cripple Creek Vien | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Prospect | ||
| Mp 93.3 Spray/Kimberly | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Mp 93.3 Spray/Kimberly Hwy | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Ordway Pit | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Ordway Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Spray in 11 storm reports between 1997 and 2020: 4 flood, 2 lightning, 2 flash flood, 2 hail. The reports record 1 death. 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 1997 | Lightning | Spray | 1 killed | A man and the horse he was riding were killed when they were struck by lightning on May Ridge. |
| April 2019 | Flood | Spray | $1,000,000 | Numerous sections of Oregon Highway 19 and 207 were closed due to water over road and damage to road surfaces. Numerous county roads were damaged with rock and mudslides as well as plugged culverts. Flooding was reported in the city park in Spray. |
| April 2001 | Flash Flood | Spray | $5,000 | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Flood | Spray | - | The John Day river near Service Creek, ( flood stage 11.5) crested at 12.0 feet at 1815 on March 16th, fell below flood stage and then rose again to 12.1 feet at 1900 on March 19th. Fell below flood stage 0600 on the 20th. |
| January 2011 | Flood | Spray | - | Only minor flooding observed. The John Day River at Service Creek crested at 13.72 which was 2.22 feet above flood stage. |
| May 2011 | Flood | Spray | - | The John Day River near Service Creek crested at 15.2 on May 17th, which was 3.7 feet above flood stage. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Spray | - | Six large juniper trees were uprooted or split. Other trees lost large limbs. A 25 foot section of 1/8 inch steel panel was blown off a cow shelter. |
| August 2002 | Flash Flood | Spray | - | Flash Flooding was reported between Spray and Service Creek. |
| July 2001 | Lightning | Spray | - | Lightning caused a 6000 acre fire that burned for around 5 days near Sentinal Peak. |
| May 2020 | Hail | Spray | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Spray | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Creek | 11.6 miles | 11 | |
| Richmond | 12.7 miles | 10 | |
| Waldron (historical) | 14.5 miles | 12 | |
| Waterman (historical) | 15.7 miles | 10 | |
| Kinzua (historical) | 17.6 miles | 11 | |
| Lost Valley (historical) | 18.8 miles | 9 | |
| Twickenham | 21.0 miles | 12 | |
| Caleb (historical) | 22.3 miles | 10 |
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 Spray | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2050063 | 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 1127403. 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.




