Blanco, Texas
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Blanco census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78606. It stands on Koch Branch. The Survey maps it on the Blanco quadrangle. 1,682 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,329 feet above sea level.
On record in Blanco
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Blanco Historic Districtlisted 1991
Adrian Edwards Conn Houselisted 1971
Population over time
2 figuresBlanco fell from 1,739 to 1,682 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 | 1,739 | |
| 2020 | 1,682 | -57 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 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.
- 1887 USGS Blanco quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Blanco quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Llano quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Llano quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Llano quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Blanco quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Pedernales River quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Photographs
8 of 9 photographs shown, 2014Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Every photograph of Blanco County
Fires near this place
91 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 91 fires within 5 miles of Blanco between 2005 and 2016, burning about 481 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 42 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 29 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 26 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 21 September 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | EL CAMPO DRIVE |
| 14 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE 5776 RR 165 |
| 3 August 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 27 August 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 23 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 09-0082634 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
44 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blanco in 44 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 26 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 flash flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 2 deaths. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2015 | Flash Flood | Blanco | 1 killed, $20,000,000 | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing FM 1623 along the Blanco River. A 42 year old man died in his vehicle along the Blanco River near downtown Blanco. Flooding along the Blanco River in the town of Blanco was substantial. Water came up to the bottom of the Highway 281 bridge in Blanco. Water overtopped the Loop 163 bridge east of Blanco. The Blanco River overtopped County Road 165 and destroyed that bridge. Portions of the Blanco State Park were heavily damaged with cabins flooded. There were a total of 22 homes either destroyed or heavily damaged. Monetary losses were unavailable at the time of this writing but estimated to be more than several million dollars with losses to homes/structures and road infrastructure. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Blanco | 1 killed | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding. At approximately 8:07 PM local time, Blanco County Fire/EMS responded to a call about a vehicle that had been swept away due to flood waters on the Blanco River just east of the City of Blanco. One passenger was found downstream 800 yards of where the vehicle went into the water. She was rescued successfully but a second passenger, a 74 year old woman, was found deceased about 60 yards from the vehicle at approximately 10:56 PM. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | $200,000 | Winds from severe thunderstorms blew down trees down and damaged power lines between Blanco and Johnson City. Power was out to both cities for several hours. The storms also caused damage to roofs in Johnson City, with considerable damage to the roof of the Blanco County Jail. |
| March 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | $30,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds blew down trees and took the roof off a building. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | $10,000 | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 90 mph that tore part of the roof off a house north of Blanco. |
| October 1993 | Hail | Blanco | $5,000 | Hail up to golf ball-size hit Round Mountain for the second time that night. Golf ball-size hail was also reported in the City of Blanco. At 4:55 local time golf ball-size hail was reported in Blanco again. Several windows were broken out this time and several trees were damaged. High winds uprooted some trees. |
| March 1994 | Hail | Blanco | $5,000 | no account filed |
| November 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Blanco | $3,000 | A tornado, rated F0, moved from 10 miles northeast of Blanco to 13 miles northeast of Blanco. It was spotted in open country and damage was limited to trees knocked over by the tornado. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced quarter size hail south of Blanco. |
| March 2022 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced quarter size hail in Blanco. |
| January 2020 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced quarter size hail in Blanco. |
| January 2020 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced quarter size hail north of Blanco. This report was from MPING. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding closing RM 165 near Boardhouse Creek east of Blanco. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph that damaged trees on the west side of Blanco. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorms produced quarter size hail north of Blanco. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced quarter size hail north of Blanco. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph in Blanco. |
| April 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph that knocked down some large trees. |
| March 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph by a Blanco County EMS employee. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 58 mph that knocked down a tree limb and blocked a road. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Blanco | - | Quarter size hail was reported by the public in the city of Blanco. |
| October 2015 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Trainer Wuest Rd. at RR 1623, Crab Apple at RR 1888, and RR 165 at the bridge in Blanco all near the Blanco River. |
| July 2007 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | General 2 to 3 inch rains fell over Blanco, Gillespie, Kerr and Kendall Counties, with up to 4 inches between Blanco and Twin Sisters. FM32, FM165, and FM473 were closed due to high water. |
| March 2007 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | Up to 3 inches of rain fell at Payton in the late morning, closing SH32 and FM165 due to high water. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | Bands of showers and thunderstorms associated with the remains of Erin formed over the Hill Country in the early morning hours. One band developed southward into southeastern Blanco County before sunrise. It produced 3 to 4 inch rain totals that restarted flash flooding over the already saturated soils very quickly in the southeast part of the county. FM165, FM32, were FM473 reported to be closed due to high water into the mid morning. |
| April 2006 | Flash Flood | Blanco | - | Early evening thunderstorms spreading eastward from Gillespie County dropped general 1 to 2 inch rains over the central part of Blanco County. Highest totals were 3 inches between Blanco and Johnson City. Flash flooding closed FM1323 and FM2766 through much of the evening. |
| October 1993 | Hail | Blanco | - | Hail up to golf ball-size hit Round Mountain for the second time that night. Golf ball-size hail was also reported in the City of Blanco. At 4:55 local time golf ball-size hail was reported in Blanco again. Several windows were broken out this time and several trees were damaged. High winds uprooted some trees. |
| October 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blanco | - | Hail up to golf ball-size hit Round Mountain for the second time that night. Golf ball-size hail was also reported in the City of Blanco. At 4:55 local time golf ball-size hail was reported in Blanco again. Several windows were broken out this time and several trees were damaged. High winds uprooted some trees. |
| May 1993 | Hail | Blanco | - | HAM Radio operators reported 1.5 inch hail near RR 2721 and Highway 290, and in Johnson City. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 2013 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| March 2000 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| March 2000 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| February 1998 | Hail | Blanco | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Blanco | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flugrath | 5.2 miles | 12 | |
| Payton | 6.3 miles | 15 | |
| Twin Sisters | 6.6 miles | 13 | |
| Rocky Creek | 12.1 miles | 12 | |
| Johnson City | 12.4 miles | 15 | |
| Hye | 12.7 miles | 13 | |
| Westbrook (historical) | 13.0 miles | 12 | |
| Post Oak | 15.6 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 Blanco | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q969730 | 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 1330829. 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.
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.






