BlockBefore

Custer, Washington

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1975. It stands in the Blaine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 98240. The Survey maps it on the Blaine quadrangle. 518 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 43 feet above sea level.

Custer within Whatcom County

Population over time

3 figures

Custer grew from 299 to 518 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
2000299
2010366+67 (+22%)
2020518+152 (+42%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 13 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

19 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Custer between 1995 and 2019, burning about 61 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
Debris and open burning9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks1

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
3 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
21 September 2009Fireworksunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersKOEHN RD
19 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
13 September 2016Debris and open burning2.2 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersHARKSELL RD
12 September 2016Smoking1.5 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersBLAINE 20
3 August 2017Smokingunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersEXIT 266
25 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersKLUKEN
18 August 2003Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Whatcom County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Custer: 8 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Diatomite. 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
Blain PitDiatomitePast Producer
Ferndale DepositDiatomiteOccurrence
Bordstrom PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Colacurico PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gilbert Iverson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Loomis PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Loop PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Whatcom 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
Pleasant Valley3.6 miles13
Haynie3.9 miles13
Kickerville4.2 miles13
Mountain View5.1 miles14
Ferndale5.5 miles13
Birch Bay5.7 miles13
Birch Bay Circle Grange5.9 miles13
Hillsdale6.0 miles13

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 CusterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q548216The 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 1512132. 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.