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Bascom, Texas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1938 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Tyler East census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75707. The Survey maps it on the Bascom quadrangle. It stands 571 feet above sea level.

Bascom within Smith County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 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

355 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 355 fires within 5 miles of Bascom between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,403 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 24 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 burning203
Missing data/not specified/undetermined80
Arson/incendiarism24
Equipment and vehicle use14
Recreation and ceremony8
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Smoking6
Natural5

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
9 September 2011Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
8 September 2019Debris and open burning7.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSMITH 10:35
8 September 2013Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service6301
8 September 2013Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service6298
8 September 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
7 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
6 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined200 acresTexas A & M Forest Service20864 CR 26 FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Smith County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bascom: 1 occurrence, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Halite, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Limestone, General, Clay. 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
American Clay Forming PlantClayProducer
East Tyler Salt DomeHalite, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Limestone, GeneralOccurrenceAnhydrite, Calcite, Halite

Every working recorded in Smith County

Storms near this place

15 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bascom in 15 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 7 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 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 2019Tornado (EF1)Bascom$30,000An EF-1 tornado with maximum estimated winds around 90 mph touched down along Caleb Trail and Midway Drive where it uprooted and snapped branches on trees. Trees fell on a car and homes along the road and shingles were removed off of a single family home. As the tornado approached Highway 64, portions of the roof were removed off of two metal outbuildings, and a sign was damaged at the Dairy Queen. After the tornado tossed metal across Highway 64, it continued along Morris Road where it uprooted several more trees and snapped additional large branches before lifting.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindBascom$30,000A 60 foot pine tree fell on a home between Tyler and Chapel Hill, Texas.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBascom-Trees and power lines were downed in the New Chapel Hill community.
February 2024HailBascom-Ping pong ball size hail reported via social media.
June 2023HailBascom-Golf ball size hail reported via social media along Highway 64 between the Bascom and Chapel Hill communities.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindBascom-A portion of the roof was blown off of the Chapel Hill High School cafeteria.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindBascom-Trees were blown down near County Road 220 in the New Chapel Hill community.
August 2021Flash FloodBascom-A water rescue was performed in the New Chapel Hill community at the intersection of County Road 289 and Highway 64 due to flash flooding.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindBascom-A tree was blown down onto a home in the Deer Run subdivision of Chapel Hill.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBascom-A few large trees were snapped and/or uprooted southeast of Tyler, Texas.
February 2008HailBascom-Hail fell in the community of New Chapel Hill.
May 2017HailBascom-no account filed
February 2013HailBascom-no account filed
May 2012HailBascom-no account filed
January 2010HailBascom-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Smith 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
Chapel Hill1.6 miles16
Elberta2.6 miles16
New Chapel Hill2.7 miles16
Tyler4.8 miles16
Bostick5.3 miles15
Pine Springs5.8 miles15
Copeland6.4 miles14
Whitehouse6.6 miles16

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 BascomAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q22076405The 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 1330118. 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.