Silex, Missouri
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63377. It stands on Dry Branch. The Survey maps it on the Silex quadrangle. 24 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 499 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresSilex fell from 187 to 24 between 2010 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 187 | |
| 2020 | 24 | -163 (-87%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 16 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.
- 1890 USGS Louisiana quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1937 USGS Silex quadrangle1:62500
- 1939 USGS Silex quadrangle1:48000
- 1948 USGS Quincy quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Quincy quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1975 USGS Silex quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Mexico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Silex between 1994 and 2020, burning about 15 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 December 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 28 November 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 22 November 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 9.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 142014-00008-11222016-1000 |
| 19 January 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 179876-05707-01192020-1535 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Silex: 18 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gessman Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown Clay | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Silex in 19 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off of the front porch of a house in Silex. Also, about 3 miles north of Troy a large tree was blown down and in Old Monroe numerous large tree limbs were blown down around town. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Numerous large tree limbs were blown down around town. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and power lines in Silex. In Troy, several large tree limbs were blown down around town. |
| November 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree in Silex. |
| April 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Silex | - | A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage was reported. |
| April 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Silex | - | A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage was reported. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Several large tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Several large tree limbs were blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed some power lines. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Silex | - | Storm spotters reported nickel size hail. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed power lines along Highway UU. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Silex | - | no account filed |
| November 2013 | Hail | Silex | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Silex | - | no account filed |
| January 2008 | Hail | Silex | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silex | - | no account filed |
| January 1999 | Hail | Silex | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Silex | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2193443 | 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 726439. 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.






