Vernonia, Oregon
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Vernonia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 97064. It stands on Bear Creek. The Survey maps it on the Vernonia quadrangle. 2,374 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 630 feet above sea level.
On record in Vernonia
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
Oregon-American Lumber Company Mill Officelisted 2002
Population over time
3 figuresVernonia grew from 2,228 to 2,374 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 | 2,228 | |
| 2010 | 2,151 | -77 (-3%) |
| 2020 | 2,374 | +223 (+10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1940 USGS Vernonia quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Vernonia quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000
- 1950 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Vernonia quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1964 USGS Vancouver quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Nehalem River quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1979 USGS Vernonia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
43 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 43 fires within 5 miles of Vernonia between 1992 and 2019, burning about 13 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | LOUISIANA AVE #1 |
| 9 September 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | SHEELY CREEK |
| 6 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | NEHALEM HWY S. #3 |
| 28 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.6 acres | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | KIRK RD. #1 |
| 28 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | PETERSON CROSSOVER RD #1 |
| 28 September 1999 | Smoking | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | SHORT ROAD #1 |
| 17 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | NEHALEM HWY N. #1 |
| 12 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | REMINGTON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Vernonia: 12 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archibald | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach Mansfield Lookout | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach New Mansfield | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Oak Ranch Pit 1 & 2 | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Archibald Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Crown Zellerbach Mansfield Lookout | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vernonia in 7 storm reports between 2007 and 2021: 6 flood, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | Flood | Vernonia | 1 killed, 1 hurt, $2,305,000 | The Nehalem River near Vernonia flooded Vernonia resulting in evacuation of residents and damage to many buildings and vehicles. A bridge washed out on TImber Road and isolated the Glenwood Community. There was also significant flooding in St Helens, where 17 homes were evacuated, and many roads were damaged and closed. Highway 30 and the business district in Rainier also flooded. An elderly couple drove around a barrier of a closed road, and was swept away by high water. The man escaped through the sunroof of the vehicle, but the woman ended up drowning. Flooding and landslides cut off Western Columbia County. |
| December 2007 | Flood | Vernonia | $36,000,000 | The Upper Nehalem River flooded near Vernonia, and did devastating damage to the city. Numerous homes were completely flooded, and many families were evacuated. Quite a few lost everything they had. NOTE: Damage estimates are for the entire Columbia county, with almost a third of the damage in the town of Vernonia. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Vernonia | $824,000 | Flooding from the Nehalem River and Rock Creek in Vernonia resulted in evacuation of homes and the implementation of the Vernonia Emergency Command Center. Heavy rain resulted in a land slide that closed OR47 at mile marker 8. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Vernonia | $124,000 | Heavy rain resulted in flooding of the Nehalem River near Vernonia, and several small streams in the area. The Timber Road Bridge over Gales Creek washed out north of Highway 6. |
| January 2021 | Flood | Vernonia | - | The Nehalem River near Vernonia (VENO3) rose above flood stage at 0215PST, crested at 12.17 feet, the fell below flood stage at 0345PST on the 13th. Flood stage is 12.0 feet. |
| November 2012 | Flood | Vernonia | - | Heavy rain caused the Nehalem River near Vernonia to overflow its banks and flood low lying areas. The Nehalem River crested at 13.4 feet, 1.4 feet above flood stage, on November 19th at 5 pm PST. |
| December 2007 | Heavy Rain | Vernonia | - | Storm total precipitation was 11.00 inches. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Hill | 0.7 miles | 17 | |
| Treharne | 1.8 miles | 17 | |
| Pittsburg | 3.6 miles | 16 | |
| Clear Creek | 5.9 miles | 16 | |
| Keasey | 7.2 miles | 16 | |
| Mist | 10.1 miles | 16 | |
| Chapman | 11.2 miles | 17 | |
| Neverstill | 11.4 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 Vernonia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q384747 | 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 1128526. 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.








