Bethel, Texas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Cayuga census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75861. The Survey maps it on the Cayuga quadrangle. It stands 371 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1949 USGS Tennessee Colony quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Tennessee Colony quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:100000
- 1982 USGS Cayuga quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
127 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 127 fires within 5 miles of Bethel between 1995 and 2020, burning about 1,555 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 6 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 burning | 56 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 16 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | BARNETT FIRE |
| 24 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HWY 287 DITCH FIRE |
| 17 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 11 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 8 August 2012 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | WILSEY MCMAHON |
| 5 August 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CARTER HAY BALE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bethel: 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Halite, Limestone, General, Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Salt Dome | Halite, Limestone, General, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | 1927 |
Storms near this place
9 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bethel in 9 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 4 hail, 3 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethel | $110,000 | A mobile home was completely destroyed by a downburst near Highway 287 and FM 2706 in the Bethel area. The single-wide home was sitting on a pier and beam concrete foundation, but the entire home was torn apart by winds estimated around 100 mph. On the same property, a vehicle was turned over and two tractor trailers were blown over. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethel | $50,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds ranging from 50-70 mph moved across the northern portions of Anderson County. According to the summary report from local EMs:|A home on St Hwy 19N between Bradford and Bois D'Arc sustained wind damage to the back patio (metal roof torn up), tin off the barn, and huge tree branch in driveway that pulled down power meter/line at this location.||A home in the 4200 block of FM 860 had a large tree uprooted in the front yard that did damage to the front of the porch area of the home.||A home on FM 2706 had metal from the barn blown across the yard and onto neighbor property. Large tree was knocked down in the driveway. ||Several trees down across ACR 462, 463, 2601, 489, 458, 2101, 441. FM roads affected with trees down were FM 860, 837, 2330, 19.||Frankston had trees/powerlines down at ACR 309, 307, Lakeview MH park, 296 Kickapoo and FM 19 and ACR 322.||Trees and power lines were down on Hwy 19N in the Bradford/Montalba area as well. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Bethel | $30,000 | EM reported road washed out due to flooding at CR 2608 near Tennessee Colony. |
| December 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Bethel | $10,000 | Spotters confirmed a tornado on the ground west of Tennessee Colony and south of Bethel. Some structural damage was reported. |
| October 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethel | $5,000 | Trees were blown down by high winds. |
| August 2014 | Hail | Bethel | - | One inch hail was reported between CR 2608 and CR 2610 near Bethel. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Bethel | - | no account filed |
| April 2021 | Hail | Bethel | - | no account filed |
| March 1996 | Hail | Bethel | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cayuga | 3.9 miles | 12 | |
| Greens Bluff | 4.3 miles | 12 | |
| Blackfoot | 4.9 miles | 12 | |
| Yard | 4.9 miles | 12 | |
| Ward | 6.2 miles | 12 | |
| Tennessee Colony | 7.3 miles | 12 | |
| Springfield | 7.6 miles | 12 | |
| Massey Lake | 7.9 miles | 12 |
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 Bethel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q22076410 | 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 1379413. 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.






