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Freeport, Texas

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1974. It stands in the Brazosport census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77541. The Survey maps it on the Freeport quadrangle. 10,696 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Freeport within Brazoria County

Population over time

2 figures

Freeport fell from 12,049 to 10,696 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.

YearPeople Change
201012,049
202010,696-1,353 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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.

Photographs

8 of 39 photographs shown, 1943

Taken 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.

Freeport Sulphur Company. Hoskins Mound, Texas. Pipe storage. Pipelines are laid for carrying superheated water to the wells and for carrying melted sulphur to relay stations and to the vats
Freeport Sulphur Company. Hoskins Mound, Texas. Pipe storage. Pipelines are laid for carrying superheated water to the wells and for carrying melted sulphur to relay stations and to the vats
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Loading railroad cars with sulphur
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Loading railroad cars with sulphur
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Control room at a relay station for the flow of sulphur from the wells to the vats
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Control room at a relay station for the flow of sulphur from the wells to the vats
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. A driller at a sulphur well
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. A driller at a sulphur well
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Clearing sulphur off the railroad tracks after blasting
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Clearing sulphur off the railroad tracks after blasting
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Cleaning sulphur off railroad tracks after blasting
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Cleaning sulphur off railroad tracks after blasting
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Lowering dynamite into hole preparatory to blasting from top of vat
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Lowering dynamite into hole preparatory to blasting from top of vat
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Sulphur vat from which trains are being loaded
Freeport Sulphur Company, Hoskins Mound, Texas. Sulphur vat from which trains are being loaded
Vachon, John, 1943. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Brazoria County

Fires near this place

34 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 34 fires within 5 miles of Freeport between 2008 and 2015, burning about 145 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 4 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
Smoking10
Debris and open burning5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Arson/incendiarism4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
5 September 2012Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceCENTER POINT
12 September 2011Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServicePORT FREEPORT
6 August 2014Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceVELASCO
22 August 2012Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceYELLOWSTONE LEVEE
11 August 2009Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service332/690
5 July 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceINTERCOASTAL WATERWAY
4 July 2013Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceBRAZOS RIVER AT BAYWOOD
31 July 2015Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceBRAZOS PIPE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Brazoria County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Freeport: 4 producers, 1 past producer, 1 plant. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Magnesite, Sulfur, Halite, Limestone, Ultra Pure, Vanadium, Molybdenum. 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
Bryan Mound MineSulfur, Halite, Limestone, Ultra PurePast Producer1904, 1912, 1968
Gulf Chem and Metallurgical PlantVanadium, MolybdenumProducer
A P Green RefractoriesMagnesiteProducer
Dow Chemical PlantMagnesiteProducer
Dow Freeport Plants A and BMagnesitePlant1941
Us Gypsum Freeport PlantMagnesiteProducer

Every working recorded in Brazoria County

Storms near this place

26 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Freeport in 26 storm reports between 1993 and 2019: 9 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 funnel cloud. The reports record 12 injuries. 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
July 1997LightningFreeport11 hurt, $100,000Lightning struck HCl tank at Dow Chemical causing it to rupture. 11 people treated for contact of the HCl.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindFreeport1 hurt, $60,000In extreme southeast Brazoria county, on the eastern end of Follets Island just before San Luis Pass, several homes received roof damage, two mobile homes were overturned, and there was one serious injury. Reported by Emergency Management.
September 2002Thunderstorm WindFreeport$50,000Estimated 70 mph winds in Freeport/Surfside area uprooted and snapped numerous trees.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindFreeport$50,000Wall of building blown down with trees down on Ave. A.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindFreeport$30,000Trees, fences and power lines down.
September 2002Flash FloodFreeport$30,000Two feet of water on streets in Freeport.
September 2002Flash FloodFreeport$25,000Numerous roads flooded and impassable from Freeport to Lake Jackson.
February 1998Thunderstorm WindFreeport$25,000Gulf States Utilities building roof blown off, several light poles blown down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindFreeport$17,000Street signs blown down and 2x6 boards snapped in Surfside.
April 2007Flash FloodFreeport$15,000Water reported in a couple of homes in and around the old Velasco District.
September 1998Thunderstorm WindFreeport$15,000Roof damage to homes.
October 2001Thunderstorm WindFreeport$10,000Police Department reported trees and power lines down in Freeport.
July 2005HailFreeport$9,000Quarter-size hail in Surfside.
March 1993HailFreeport$5,000Freeport Police Dept reported marble- to golfball-size hail in freeport and winds estimated at 50 mph caused some tree damage. Brazoria County Sherrif's Office reported some street flooding.
May 2016LightningFreeport$3,000Lightning that struck and knocked over a power pole in Freeport caused power outages throughout the city.
February 1998HailFreeport$3,000no account filed
April 1995HailFreeport$2,000Freeport police reported golf ball-size hail.
April 1995HailFreeport$1,000Freeport police reported marble-size hail.
September 2019Flash FloodFreeport-Heavy rain caused flooding and the subsequent closure of the intersection of Highway 36 and FM 1495 in Freeport.
September 2018Funnel CloudFreeport-A funnel cloud was sighted in the Freeport area.
February 2017Heavy RainFreeport-Some street flooding resulted from three inches of rain.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindFreeport-Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph within the town of Freeport.
June 2001Flash FloodFreeport-Flooding from the remnants of T.S. Allison. Damage included in previous report.
September 1999Funnel CloudFreeport-Funnel cloud reported near CR 469 just off of FM 2918.
May 2001Funnel CloudFreeport-no account filed
September 1999WaterspoutFreeport-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Brazoria 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
Velasco0.5 miles12
Midway1.2 miles12
Velasco Heights2.1 miles12
Brazosport2.4 miles12
Gulf Park2.9 miles9
Quintana3.1 miles12
Quintana Beach3.1 miles12
Surfside3.4 miles12

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 FreeportAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q959375The 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 1357720. 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.