Biohazard Cleanup Near Riddle Historic District Riddle, OR

Riddle is an incorporated city in Douglas County, Oregon, and it had a population of 1,214 at the 2020 census, up from 1,185 in 2010.

Riddle was incorporated in 1893, and the 2020 census counted 488 households in the city, with a median age of 39.1 years.

Riddle was founded by John Bouseman Riddle, the son of William H. Riddle, for whom the town was named, after William settled in the area in 1851.

By 1881 the Southern Pacific Railroad line south of Roseburg had a station here called Riddlesburg, which was changed to Riddles in 1882 and to Riddle in 1889, and a post office opened as Riddles in 1882 and was changed to Riddle in 1910.

J. B. Riddle bought a land claim at age nineteen in 1863, sold 140.5 acres of it to his brother Abner in 1869, and, when the railroad passed between the brothers' properties, switched from farming to business and built a hotel in what became the city of Riddle.

The Brown House, built in 1894, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Riddle covers 0.63 square miles, all of it land, at an elevation of 712 feet, and its ZIP code is 97469.

Riddle lies about 25 miles south of Roseburg and about 4 miles west of Oregon Route 99 and Interstate 5, with Cow Creek flowing by the city before entering the nearby South Umpqua River.

The Riddle area was known for nickel mining, with several square miles of nickel-bearing garnierite surface deposits nearby, and the mine closed in 1987.

The Riddle School District operates Riddle Elementary School and Riddle Junior/Senior High School, and Riddle High School was founded in 1935.