BlockBefore

Blum, Texas

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Blum census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76627. It stands on Darr Branch. The Survey maps it on the Blum quadrangle. 383 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 595 feet above sea level.

Blum within Hill County

On record in Blum

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

Population over time

3 figures

Blum fell from 399 to 383 between 2000 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.

YearPeople Change
2000399
2010444+45 (+11%)
2020383-61 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 18 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

160 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 160 fires within 5 miles of Blum between 2005 and 2020, burning about 4,466 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 18 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined58
Debris and open burning57
Equipment and vehicle use18
Arson/incendiarism18
Smoking2
Natural2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
7 September 2019Debris and open burning500 acresTexas A & M Forest Service150
7 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceBURN BARRELL
6 September 2014Natural20 acresTexas A & M Forest Service103
4 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service114
30 September 2014Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service173
27 September 2012Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service145
19 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONTROLLED BURN
19 September 2011Debris and open burning6.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceFM 933 & FM 934 BLUM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hill County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Blum: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Calcium, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Arnold PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Blum Quarry and PlantCalciumProducer
Unnamed QuarryLimestone, GeneralProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Hill County

Storms near this place

42 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blum in 42 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 20 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 9 flash flood, 2 tornado. 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
September 2010Flash FloodBlum$1,000,000Several county roads and Farm-to-Market roads were impassible or closed due to high water. Swift water rescues were conducted in Whitney after two apartment complexes were flooded. There were at least 17 high water rescues conducted across the county. At least 40 homes suffered damage due to flood waters, and county roads across the county experienced significant damage.
December 2006Tornado (F2)Blum$500,000The National Weather Service in Fort Worth conducted a damage survey and found that a tornado developed west of FM 933 and south of CR 1145. Tree damage was noted as the tornado crossed FM 933 and FM 67 one mile southeast of Blum. The tornado apparently increased in size and intensity after crossing FM 67. A large grain silo was toppled over on CR 1137, roughly 1.5 miles northeast of Blum. Extensive tree and power pole damage was also noted. The path width was over a quarter of a mile at this time. As the tornado crossed County Roads 1136 and 1133, widespread tree damage was noted, as was structural damage to roofs and windows. The tornado then moved across FM 2488 just south of the Johnson County line, where a well-engineered home lost portions of roof decking and a large barn was destroyed. Portions of the barn's metal skin were carried over a mile to the north-northeast. The tornado then crossed into Johnson County.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindBlum$60,000Hundreds of trees were damaged or blown down across Northern Hill county. Windows were blown out on the west side of a school in Blum and temporary repair structures on a field house were blown away at Itasca High School. Two truck rigs were blown over on Interstate 35W.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindBlum$50,000The emergency manager reported extensive thunderstorm wind damage in Blum. A storm chaser reported large tree limbs were snapped off along FM 933 north of Blum.
September 2007Flash FloodBlum$20,000Vehicles were swept off of CR 2302 N near Aquilla and CR 1414 near Blum due to flooding.
May 2021HailBlum$10,000Golf ball sized hail was reported near FM 67 and CR 1138 to the east of Blum.
October 2007HailBlum$5,000Golfball-size hail reported in town.
May 2015FloodBlum$1,000Flooded roadways were reported near Blum in northwestern Hill County after 2 to 3 inches or rain fell.
February 2008Thunderstorm WindBlum$1,000One large tree was blown down in Blum.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindBlum$1,000Trees were blown down by high winds.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBlum$1,000Thunderstorms winds damaged trees two miles south and three miles southeast of Blum.
July 2025Flash FloodBlum-Emergency management reported that the 5700 block of FM 933 in Huron was down to 1 lane due to flash flooding.
July 2025Flash FloodBlum-Emergency management reported that the 1800 block along Highway 174 in Blum was closed due to high water.
May 2015Flash FloodBlum-Emergency management reported that Highway 174 about a mile from FM 933 was closed due to flooding.
April 2015Tornado (EF0)Blum-Amateur radio operators observed a brief tornado to the southeast of the city of Blum. Damage to several trees in an open field was the extent of the damage.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindBlum-Thunderstorm winds blew several trees down in the community of Blum which is approximately 6 miles south of Rio Vista.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindBlum-Large tree limbs were blown down on County Road 1114 near the Johnson County line.
May 2010HailBlum-Half-dollar size hail was reported by the fire department in the city of Blum.
May 2007Flash FloodBlum-CR 1130 closed due to high water.
May 2007Flash FloodBlum-High water closed CR 1130.
April 2007Thunderstorm WindBlum-Trees were blown down.
April 2005HailBlum-Dime size hail reported in Retreat.
June 2000Flash FloodBlum-Heavy thunderstorm rain brought water, two feet deep, across F.M. 308.
January 1995Thunderstorm WindBlum-,,,,,,,,Hail (1.00) Railroad arms were blown away by high winds.
March 2006HailBlum-no account filed
May 2006HailBlum-no account filed
May 2003HailBlum-no account filed
December 2002HailBlum-no account filed
April 2002HailBlum-no account filed
May 2002HailBlum-no account filed
April 2002HailBlum-no account filed
February 2000HailBlum-no account filed
March 2000HailBlum-no account filed
March 2000HailBlum-no account filed
March 2000HailBlum-no account filed
May 1999HailBlum-no account filed
March 1997Flash FloodBlum-no account filed
October 1996HailBlum-no account filed
January 1995HailBlum-no account filed
April 1995Thunderstorm WindBlum-no account filed
April 1994HailBlum-no account filed
October 1994HailBlum-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hill 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
Retreat4.1 miles18
Woodrow4.3 miles17
Red Hill4.5 miles17
Derden4.6 miles17
Blanton4.9 miles17
Huron7.4 miles17
Grub Hill7.4 miles17
Covington7.8 miles17

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 BlumAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q982344The 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 1330954. 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.