Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 at the 2020 census, making it the principal city of the Roseburg, Oregon Micropolitan Statistical Area.

[6] Roseburg's primary industries include timber and tourism, and the region is home to many vineyards and more than 30 wineries.

[8] Modern-day Roseburg is located on the lands of numerous Indian tribes, including the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe, whose Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation is located in Roseburg.

[9] Roseburg was the site of the 1855 Battle of Hungry Hill, part of the Rogue River Wars of 1855–56, fought between several southern Oregon Indian groups and the US Army.

[12] Originally, guests could use the floor of the front room to spread their beds or were able to sleep out of doors under nearby oak trees.

[11] In 1854, voters chose Roseburg as the county seat over rival town Winchester.

Other major employers, including Weyerhaeuser, Champion and Sun Studs also developed and grew during this time.

You talk about rough... You know a lot of places in the country claim Paul Bunyon lived there.

Every one of them loggers looked like Paul Bunyon to me.” [14] On August 7, 1959, at approximately 1:00 a.m., the Gerretsen Building Supply Company caught fire.

The truck exploded at around 1:14 a.m., destroying buildings in an eight-block radius and severely damaging 30 more blocks.

Donald De Sues and the town Assistant Fire Chief were recognized as heroes that day and were both killed in the blast.

[15] Roseburg's downtown was rebuilt, primarily by businesses using money collected from insurance claims.

The city built a new bridge over the South Umpqua River on parcels affected by the disaster.

On October 9, President Barack Obama privately visited families of victims of the shooting.

Hundreds of local residents protested the visit due to Obama's support of gun control legislation.

[19][20] In 1968, Bobby Kennedy had given a speech in Roseburg advocating for gun control for the mentally ill and for those with a "long criminal record" of murder.

[23] Roseburg has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb borderline with Csa) with cool, rainy winters and very warm, dry summers.

[24] In the summer, the area has little or no precipitation and plentiful sunshine — on average, 73.5 percent of days in July, August and September are at least partly sunny.

Roseburg averages 30.7 inches (779.8 mm) of rain per year, more than half of which falls between November and January.

[34] The Douglas County News is published weekly and is based in the nearby town of Sutherlin.

Interstate 5 runs along the west side of the city, across the South Umpqua River from downtown.

Oregon Route 138 runs northwest from Roseburg to Elkton, Oregon, and generally east from Roseburg to its terminus at a junction with U.S. Route 97, just east of Diamond Lake and Crater Lake.

Roseburg and surrounding communities are regionally served by U-Trans (formerly Umpqua Transit), the local bus service.