BlockBefore

Houston, Arkansas

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Houston Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72070. The Survey maps it on the Houston quadrangle. 143 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 308 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Houston within Perry County

On record in Houston

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

Population over time

3 figures

Houston fell from 159 to 143 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
2000159
2010173+14 (+9%)
2020143-30 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 17 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

92 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Houston between 1998 and 2020, burning about 584 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 7 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 burning33
Missing data/not specified/undetermined27
Railroad operations and maintenance12
Arson/incendiarism7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Natural5
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1

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
7 September 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 2010Debris and open burning2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2015Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
1 September 2010Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 August 2011Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
27 August 2000Natural1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
26 August 2000Natural1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Perry County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Houston: 9 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Manganese, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Copperas Gap Sandstone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Harris ProspectManganeseProducer
UnkStonePast Producer
UnkStonePast Producer
Vaught ProspectManganeseProducer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Perry County

Storms near this place

60 of 91 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Houston in 91 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 67 flood, 10 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 4 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2011FloodHouston$1,000,000Part of Arkansas Highway 216 was closed due to flooding.
April 2011FloodHouston$300,000Widespread areal flooding occurred. Part of Arkansas Highway 216 was closed from the afternoon of the 27th through the end of the month.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindHouston$100,000Trees and power lines were blown down in Houston, and countywide as well. In the city of Houston, a well built tractor shed was destroyed and a garage had its top blown off by powerful thunderstorm winds of 80 to 90 mph. Winds of 60 to 70 mph damaged trees and power lines across the county, and Houston appeared to be the area hardest hit. A horse was killed by a lightning strike in the city of Houston as well.
April 2011FloodHouston$20,000no account filed
March 2012FloodHouston$15,000Heavy rainfall caused the Fourche LaFave River near Houston to rise above flood stage for several days at the end of March. Portions of Arkansas 216 and Arkansas 300 were flooded.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindHouston$15,000Trees and power lines were blown down on Arkansas 216.
June 2013FloodHouston$10,000Heavy rainfall during late May caused the Fourche LaFave River near Houston to rise above flood stage during the morning hours on the 2nd. The river remained above flood stage until the morning hours on the 4th, then dropped below flood stage.
November 2011FloodHouston$10,000Heavy rainfall caused the Fourche LaFave River near Houston to rise above flood stage during the late morning hours on the 22nd. This river reached over 28 feet before receding below flood stage during the morning hours on the 25th.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindHouston$10,000Power lines were blown down onto a shed, causing the shed to catch fire.
May 2011FloodHouston$10,000no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindHouston$7,000A few small trees were blown down, tops were taken out of a few trees, some underpinning was blown out from under two mobile homes, and a couple of small porches had their roofs blown off.
June 2014FloodHouston$5,000Heavy rainfall caused the Fourche LaFave River at Houston to rise above flood stage during the early morning hours of the 10th. This river then fell back below flood stage during the early evening hours of the 11th.
April 2013FloodHouston$5,000The Fourche LaFave River near Houston rose above flood stage during the afternoon of the 11th, then remained above flood stage into the 12th. The river then fell below flood stage during the afternoon of the 12th.
December 2011FloodHouston$5,000Heavy rainfall at the beginning of December caused the Fourche LaFave River at Houston to rise above flood stage for several days.
December 2011FloodHouston$5,000Heavy rainfall during the middle of December caused the Fourche LaFave River at Houston to rise above flood stage for several days.
September 2008Tornado (EF1)Houston$5,000This tornado was spawned by Tropical Storm Ike. A few trees were blown down.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindHouston$5,000Thunderstorm winds knocked down some trees.
May 2011FloodHouston$5,000no account filed
January 2013FloodHouston$2,000Heavy rainfall from January 9th through January 13th caused minor flooding along the Fourche LaFave River at Houston. A co-operative observer's site 2 miles east of the river gauge reported a total of 5.71 inches of rainfall over the period, with 4.23 inches falling on January 12th. The river crested at 27.24 feet on January 14th.
December 2011FloodHouston$1,000Heavy rainfall on December 26th caused the Fourche LaFave River near Houston to rise above flood stage for a little over a day.
May 2010FloodHouston$1,000Heavy rainfall from thunderstorms on the 20th caused the Fourche LaFave River near Houston to rise above flood stage during the afternoon of the 20th, before falling back below flood stage during the evening hours of the 23rd.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindHouston-A few trees were uprooted in the town of Houston.
April 2025FloodHouston-Minor river flooding was observed at Houston along the Fourche LaFave River.
January 2025FloodHouston-The Fouche LaFave River at Houston entered minor flood stage in late January and remained above flood stage through the remainder of the month and continued above flood stage into February. No crest was observed at this site during the month of January.
May 2025FloodHouston-Minor river flooding was observed at Houston along the Fourche LaFave River.
February 2025FloodHouston-Minor flooding was observed along the Fouche LaFave River at Houston.
February 2025FloodHouston-Minor flooding was observed along the Fouche LaFave River at Houston.
June 2025FloodHouston-Minor river flooding was observed at Houston along the Fourche LaFave River.
June 2025FloodHouston-Minor river flooding was observed at Houston along the Fourche LaFave River.
June 2025FloodHouston-Minor river flooding was observed at Houston along the Fourche LaFave River.
January 2024FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston January 24-26, 2024.
March 2024FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought minor flooding to Houston along the Fourche LaFave River between the dates of March 16 and March 17.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindHouston-The roofs of at least a couple of mobile homes were damaged and trees were downed or snapped between Perryville and Conway.
March 2023FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in early March.
March 2023FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in late March.
February 2023FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in early February.
April 2022FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River in late April.
May 2022FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in early May.
March 2022FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought minor river flooding to the Saline River at Benton.
June 2022FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
April 2021FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston at the end of April.
June 2021FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in early June 2021.
May 2021FloodHouston-Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
May 2021FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston on May 18, 2021.
May 2021Flash FloodHouston-Emergency management reported that AR-216 was inundated with water.
March 2020FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston on 3/19/20.
May 2020FloodHouston-Flooding developed in mid May on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston due to heavy rain.
May 2020FloodHouston-Flooding developed in late May on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston due to heavy rain.
May 2020FloodHouston-Flooding once again developed on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston due to heavy rain.
February 2020FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River in the middle of February.
September 2020FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston in early September.
January 2019FloodHouston-Flooding was noted on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston 1/5 to 1/6.
April 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain caused flooding on the Fourche LaFave River from April 18 through April 21, 2019.
February 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
February 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston on February 20.
June 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston during late June.
June 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain led to flooding on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
May 2019FloodHouston-Flooding occurred from May 9 to the 11th on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
May 2019FloodHouston-Flooding began on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston on May 24 and continued into June.
May 2019FloodHouston-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Fourche LaFave River at Houston on 5/2/19.

Every storm recorded in Perry 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
Copperas Gap (historical)2.3 miles17
Moab (historical)2.8 miles17
Bunker Hill2.9 miles17
Sweet Home3.5 miles18
Graytown4.1 miles16
Bigelow4.1 miles17
Pleasant Valley4.4 miles16
New Dixie4.4 miles17

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 HoustonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2777521The 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 50355. 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.