From the record
7 National Register listings published here.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
78 topographic sheets cover 43 settlements here, and 7 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 National Register listings published here.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.
| Photograph | Property | Type | Listed | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cow Bayou Swing Bridge | structure | 2010 | 10000252 | |
| Cow Bayou Swing Bridge | structure | 2010 | 10000252 | |
![]() | Joseph and Annie Lucas House | building | 1997 | 97001233 |
![]() | Lutcher Memorial Church Building | building | 1982 | 82004517 |
| Navy Park Historic District | district | 1999 | 99001600 | |
![]() | Sims House | building | 1980 | 80004143 |
![]() | W. H. Stark House | building | 1976 | 76002056 |
Drawn when these were printed as single large sheets: the town seen from the air, and the county divided into its farms with every owner named. Each opens the original at the Library of Congress.
Selected from the Digital Public Library of America's 8 image records catalogued for this county. Every one shown here carries a public-domain status or a licence that permits reuse on a site that carries advertising; non-commercial, share-alike and restricted images are excluded. The selection is spread across the county's towns (at most eight per town), so no single institution's bulk upload crowds out the rest. Each opens the holding library's record, and the complete set at the Digital Public Library of America is one click away.








Flown by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1937 and 1989, the Aerial Photo Single Frames collection is the definitive mid-century view of the land: fields, roads and rivers as the camera saw them. The Survey holds 1,690 frames inside the rectangle that bounds this county; the 48 frames below were taken over the county itself, chosen across the decades of flights (at most four a year from that rectangle), so one flight cannot crowd out the rest. The full set is free to browse and download at EarthExplorer under the dataset Aerial Photo Single Frames.
















































The thermometers that kept this county's weather, and the gages that measured the flow of its streams, as the federal records hold them. The extremes below are measured values from those records, not estimates.
Who lived here in 1950, one enumeration district at a time, as the Census Bureau described each district. Each row opens its official National Archives result, with Population Schedules and ED Maps available there.
Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 331 of them, burning about 5,226 acres. 5 started naturally and 114 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 160 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 114 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The five largest, by the area the report gives. 7 of them were set deliberately.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | WOODVILLE - 682 |
| 7 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 22 February 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 20 January 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 225 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | WOODVILLE - 98 |
| 9 March 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 8 February 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 201 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MARSHALL WILLEY |
| 21 July 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | WOODVILLE - 93 |
| 20 February 2011 | Debris and open burning | 128 acres | Livingston Area | LIVINGSTON - 51 |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 330 reports for this county, causing 13 deaths, 86 injuries and about $1,582,157,280 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 134 |
| Hail | 77 |
| Flash Flood | 64 |
| Tornado | 31 |
| Flood | 13 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 |
| Lightning | 4 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 |
The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Bridge City | 10 killed, $1,500,000,000 | Widespread 30 to 50 inches of rainfall fell across Orange County during Harvey. This resulted in 27,742 homes being flooded. The hardest hit areas were Orange, Vidor, Orangefield, Pine Forest, West Orange, Rose City, Mauriceville, Rose City, and Lake View. Record crests occurred on the lower Neches and Cow Bayou. The Sabine River was at its highest level since Hurricane Ike in 2008. Water covered and closed portions of Interstate 10 in the county. Only 1 home was reported not flooded in Rose City and the community's drinking water was interrupted for near a month. 10 people perished during the event with 2 of them being from electrocution in a flooded home. |
| November 1957 | Tornado (F4) | not stated | 1 killed, 81 hurt, $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pine Forest | 1 killed, $3,000 | An 84 year old Pine Forest resident was killed at his residence on Hulett Street by a fallen tree limb. As the man arrived home at his residence and exited a vehicle, a tree limb as large as a car was blown out of a 60 foot tall pine tree and crushed both him and the vehicle. |
| March 2012 | Flood | Bridge City | 1 killed, $1,000 | The line of slow moving storms finally departed Southeast Texas in the early morning hours. As water receded a car was found in a ditch in Orange near the Lake Cypress-Mauriceville High School the next day. The driver had driven into the ditch after the rain had stopped during the night and drown. The flood waters from the heavy rain event took a week to recede. |
| January 2023 | Tornado (EF2) | Bobsher | 2 hurt, $1,000,000 | The Orange-Calcasieu Tornado touched down near Orangefield Road and quickly produced EF-2 damage a few blocks northwest of Orangefield High School. This area sustained the most severe damage from this tornado, where winds were estimated to max out at 120 mph. Numerous homes were either heavily damaged or destroyed. The tornado then crossed over Cow Bayou, and produced mostly EF-1 damage through the rest of Orange County. The tornado crossed the Sabine River over a section of West Bluff Road. A marine survey revealed that the tornado did remain continuous across the Sabine River Swamp area. |
| October 2021 | Tornado (EF2) | Little Cypress | 1 hurt, $3,000,000 | A large tornado began near Hwy 1130, flipping a double wide mobile home that was tied down. A woman inside was critically injured. Other homes along Hwy 1130 had trees fall on them, roofs ripped off, and wind blown debris damage. The tornado continued north on South Teal Road, blowing down trees. Along Hudnall Road, several homes and garages lost their roofs. The tornado turned a little to the northeast, and hit the Woodland Ridge Acres subdivision off of Hwy 87, blowing down more trees. Max estimated wind speed was 130 MPH. The tornado continued into Newton County. |
| February 1998 | Lightning | Orange | 1 hurt, $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Lightning | Peveto | 1 hurt | KJAS Radio and KFDM-TV reported an unidentified man was injured by a lightning strike at the Flying J Truck Stop on Interstate 10 at Highway 62 west of Orange. |
| September 2019 | Flash Flood | Cove City | $50,000,000 | Heavy rain from the slowly moving remnants of Imelda produced flooding across portions of Orange County. The first report in the county was of FM 105 impassable with water entering many homes in Vidor. The highest storm total in Orange County was 31.68 inches near Mauriceville. Close to a thousand homes were flooded. |
| March 2016 | Flood | Mulford | $6,400,000 | Flood water from heavy rain on the 9th and 10th gradually flowed down the Sabine River to Orange County. The river at Orange crested on the 17th at 7.62 feet. This was 2.24 feet below the record set during Hurricane Ike in 2008 and was the second highest crest recorded. Areas north of Interstate 10 had much higher levels since the freeway and railroads acted as a damn holding back water. Most homes along the river flooded with some taking several feet of water, especially north of I-10. Roughly 1,500 structures were affected during the event with 190 structures flooded which includes 177 residences. This caused an estimated $2 million in damage to public infrastructure and roughly $4.4 million to private structures. |
| October 2006 | Flood | Mauriceville | $4,000,000 | Two day rain totals of 12 to 16 inches resulted in long duration flooding across portions of Orange County. The hardest hit areas were near Mauriceville, and along the Neches River near Lakeview. At least 40 homes were destroyed and another 60 were damaged. |
| October 2002 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $3,000,000 | no account filed |
| June 1980 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| October 2021 | Tornado (EF2) | Peveto | $2,000,000 | A tornado touched down south of Old Hwy 90 near the Hwy 62 exit on I-10, severely damaging a brick home. A large building in the backyard was destroyed, an RV was tossed 25 yards, a truck flipped over, and 3 other vehicles were pushed out of the driveway. An ATV stored in the building in the backyard was picked up by the tornado and tossed across I-10. Further to the north on Hwy 62 at the TX DOT office, large warehouses in the back had the overhead doors blown in. Max estimated winds were 130 MPH. |
| March 2012 | Flash Flood | Mulford | $1,900,000 | Thunderstorms trained over the same area through the afternoon and evening across portions of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Between 10 and 14 inches of rain caused water to rise 1 to 2 feet deep in some yards and on some roadways. Reports of flooded road ways where received from Orange, Bridge City, Vidor, and Little Cypress. A co-op station at Orange reported 9.70 inches from the event. |
| December 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Vidor | $750,000 | Winds from a passing line of storms damage several structures in the vidor area. An apartment complex with mulitple buildings had roof damage to three differnt structures with one roof being removed. An outlet mall had roof and sign damage. A large tree limb fell on one home damaging the roof and porch. In a near-by trailer park mulitple mobile homes had damage with one truck being crushed by a fallen tree. |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Orangefield Arpt | $500,000 | Images posted to social media indicated water entered several structures in Bridge City and many streets were flooded south sections of Orange County. |
| March 2016 | Flood | Pine Forest | $500,000 | The flood wave from the heavy rain event during the 9th and 10th moved across western sections of Orange County flooding around 10 homes. |
| October 2006 | Flood | Mauriceville | $500,000 | An additonal 10 to 12 inches of rain in less than 24 hours resulted in significant flooding in the Mauriceville area. Roads were closed and some homes had water enter them. |
| November 2002 | Flash Flood | Vidor | $500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Flood | Pine Forest | $250,000 | Heavy rain during the end of May produced flash flooding across areas upstream of B. A. Steinhagen Lake. Even one small earthen dam failed near Colmesneil. This flood wave traveled down the Neches flooding areas south of Dam B including several homes and camps in the Lakeview Community in Northwest Orange County. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Vidor | $250,000 | Nearly 20 homes were damaged in rural sections of Orange County, mainly north of Vidor, after ten inches of rain fell in less than six hours. Some roads and bridges were also damaged. |
| September 1983 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| July 1974 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bobsher | $200,000 | Several trees were snapped and at least 5-6 homes received minor roof damage in Orangefield on 3rd and 4th Street. One large garage was destroyed. |
| October 2013 | Tornado (EF1) | Bridge City | $100,000 | The tornado began south of West Round Bunch Road near Susan Circle and traveled generally west and crossed Highway 87/73 south of Cow Bayou. The tornado then turned northwest to parallel Highway 87/73 after crossing the bayou and moved across FM 1006 and lifted before reaching Western AVE. The tornado was strongest before crossing Highway 87/73 and produced EF1 damage to homes and trees. EF0 damage was done after crossing 87/73. Roofs, carports, sheds and trees were damaged along the path. |
| November 2009 | Flood | Kinard Estates | $100,000 | River flooding along the Sabine River for the first three weeks of November 2009 caused significant damage to roadways in eastern Orange County. No homes were reportedly flooded. |
| October 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Vidor | $100,000 | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Flash Flood | Orange | $100,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $75,000 | no account filed |
| October 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Vidor | $50,000 | A spotter reported damage to Wright's BBQ on Main Street in Vidor. |
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $50,000 | Power lines were blown down around the city with trees toppled over. One car was damaged by a falling tree. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Vidor | $50,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $50,000 | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Flash Flood | Orange | $50,000 | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Mauriceville | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rose City | $40,000 | The media relayed reports of one trailer flipped and another crushed by a falling tree near Vidor. |
| June 1997 | Heavy Rain | Bridge City | $40,000 | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $35,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridge City | $30,000 | no account filed |
| January 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Orangefield Arpt | $25,000 | A brief tornado developed over the Bessie Heights Marsh producing damage to trees and roofs from Nora Circle across Round Bunch Road, Edgar Drive to Turner Road. The tornado damaged electrical transmission lines as it weakened before Bessie Heights Road. Max estimated winds were 100 mph. |
| April 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kilowatt | $25,000 | Multiple large trees were downed in Orange and West Orange. |
| March 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Cypress | $25,000 | A barn was damaged, and minor roof damage was reported on one home north of Orange. |
| May 2006 | Flash Flood | West Orange | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Flash Flood | Vidor | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Flash Flood | Orange | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Vidor | $25,000 | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $25,000 | no account filed |
| December 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Cypress | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 1992 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| November 1983 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1980 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1971 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| February 1952 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Flash Flood | Bridge City | $20,000 | KFDM-TV and the public reported widespread flash flooding across Orange County. Several homes in Bridge City and West Orange received minor flooding. |
| August 2001 | Flash Flood | Orange | $20,000 | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $20,000 | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Flash Flood | Bridge City | $20,000 | no account filed |
| January 1998 | Flash Flood | Bridge City | $20,000 | no account filed |
The Survey's mineral resources record lists 18 workings inside this county. 15 still produce and 3 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | 11 |
| Clay | 3 |
| Silica | 3 |
| Halite | 1 |
| Stone, Crushed/Broken | 1 |
The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Port Neches Salt Dome | Halite | Occurrence | 1928 | |
| Alpha Portland Clay Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| G.T.M. Sand Pit | Silica | Producer | ||
| Orange Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Rose City Pit | Silica | Producer | ||
| Rose City Sand Pit | Silica | Producer | ||
| Teal Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay | Producer | Sand | |
| Beeco Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand | |
| Big Sandy Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand | |
| Big Sandy Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| L O Block Sand Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Larry Tinkle Sand Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| R A Mann Bayon Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Rose City Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand | |
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand |
Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.
Orange census division · 77630 · Near Gum Gully · Orangefield quadrangle
16 sheets, 1943 to 1986
Bridge City-Orangefield census division · 77630 · Near Gum Island · Terry quadrangle
16 sheets, 1926 to 1986
Bridge City-Orangefield census division · 77611 · Orangefield quadrangle
16 sheets, 1943 to 1986
Orange census division · 77630 · On Little Cypress Bayou · Orange quadrangle
19 sheets, 1932 to 1996
Vidor census division · 77662 · On Walnut Run · Pine Forest quadrangle
15 sheets, 1926 to 1993
Mauriceville census division · 77632 · Mauriceville quadrangle
13 sheets, 1926 to 1986
Mauriceville census division · 77632 · Mauriceville quadrangle
13 sheets, 1926 to 1986
Vidor census division · 77662 · On Walnut Run · Pine Forest quadrangle
15 sheets, 1926 to 1993
Mauriceville census division · 77632 · Near Grubs Island · Echo quadrangle
18 sheets, 1932 to 1994
Orange census division · 77630 · Near Coopers Gulley · Orange quadrangle
19 sheets, 1932 to 1996
Bridge City-Orangefield census division · 77630 · On Sandy Creek · Orangefield quadrangle
16 sheets, 1943 to 1986
Vidor census division · 77662 · On Tenmile Creek · Pine Forest quadrangle
15 sheets, 1926 to 1993
Vidor census division · 77662 · On Tiger Creek · Beaumont East quadrangle
19 sheets, 1926 to 1994
Orange census division · 77630 · On Sandy Creek · Orangefield quadrangle
16 sheets, 1943 to 1986