BlockBirch, Texas
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Somerville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77879. The Survey maps it on the Frenstat quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 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.
- 1954 USGS Austin quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Somerville quadrangle1:62500
- 1960 USGS Frenstat quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1993 USGS Brenham quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
132 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 132 fires within 5 miles of Birch between 2005 and 2020, burning about 447 acres in total. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 70 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | MOSS OAK |
| 7 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | REBECCA WILSON |
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | WHISPERING WOODS @ PK RD 57 |
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | PARK ROAD 57 9/6/19 |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | ROGELIO PANTOJA |
| 4 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | WHISPERING WOODS |
| 3 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE |
| 28 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 10166 TX 36S GRASS FIRE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Birch: 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Thorium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falkenburg-Blackburn Prospect | Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Thorium | Occurrence | 1954 | |
| Weiler-Whitener Prospect | Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, Thorium | Occurrence | 1954 |
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.
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1379420. 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.