Friendswood, Texas
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Texas City-League City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77546. The Survey maps it on the Friendswood quadrangle. 41,213 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 30 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresFriendswood grew from 35,805 to 41,213 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 | 35,805 | |
| 2020 | 41,213 | +5,408 (+15%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 18 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.
- 1916 USGS Genoa quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1920 USGS Genoa quadrangle1:31680
- 1932 USGS Genoa quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Friendswood quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1975 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Freindswood quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Friendswood quadrangle1:24000
- 1992 USGS Houston quadrangle1:100000
- 1995 USGS Friendswood quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
42 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Friendswood between 2008 and 2020, burning about 102 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September 2016 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | BRUSH OR BRUSH-AND-GRASS |
| 7 August 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 12-0000523 |
| 5 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 11-0000474 |
| 5 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 11-0000473 |
| 7 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | E070 |
| 7 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | E093, L093 |
| 25 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | E094 |
| 17 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | E093 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Friendswood: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideal Basic Industries Inc | Clay | Producer | ||
| Seabrook Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Shelton Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
20 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Friendswood in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2017: 7 hail, 6 flash flood, 4 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Friendswood | 1 hurt, $90,000 | Large cedar tree down on a home (one injury). Power pole down on FM 2351 with numerous tree limbs down in and around Clear Brook High School. The school had a tennis fence blown down. A nearby carport was damaged and a billboard sign was also blown down. |
| November 2003 | Tornado (F1) | Friendswood | $275,000 | Tornado hit a Friendswood home subdivision. Numerous homes received roof damage, garage door damage, and tree damage. |
| October 2006 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | $250,000 | Heavy rains caused widespread flooding with water in homes. There were five water rescues from vehicles. |
| November 2003 | Tornado (F1) | Friendswood | $200,000 | Tornado struck a Friendswood church on FM 2351. Church's sanctuary received damage, church's bell tower completely torn off. |
| October 2004 | Hail | Friendswood | $150,000 | Quarter-size hail in Coward Creek subdivision. |
| October 2004 | Hail | Friendswood | $150,000 | Golfball-size hail at Friendswood Police Station on FM 518. |
| October 2004 | Hail | Friendswood | $150,000 | Roof damage to numerous homes 2 miles SW of the intersection of FM 518 and FM 528. |
| October 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Friendswood | $40,000 | 18 wheeler overturned at intersection of FM 518 and FM 2351. Trees snapped and numerous fences damaged with widespread power outages in and around city. 16 foot boat flipped over in residential yard. |
| March 2002 | Hail | Friendswood | $30,000 | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Friendswood | $25,000 | On FM 518 in Friendswood, wind damage occurred to an auto repair shop, with loss of the sheet metal awning, and power lines were down. |
| October 2013 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | $10,000 | Heavy rain caused road closures due to flooding in and around the towns of League City, Hitchcock, Dickinson, La Marque, and San Leon, as well as high water around Tiki Island, and the Bolivar Peninsula. |
| March 2001 | Hail | Friendswood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| November 2003 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | $5,000 | Flooding across northern Galveston County. |
| November 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Friendswood | $5,000 | Tornado touch down at FM 528 and FM 518. Tornado crossed Clear Creek and moved 1/4 mile into Harris County. |
| April 1997 | Hail | Friendswood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 1997 | Hail | Friendswood | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Friendswood | $3,000 | Tree down in the Forest of Friendswood subdivision. |
| October 1998 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | $3,000 | Minor street flooding. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | - | There were numerous water rescues and flooded homes within the Friendswood and Pearland areas. Roads and highways in and around these Houston suburbs were inundated and closed due to flash flooding. Mary's Creek and Cowart Creek overflowed their banks and exacerbated the flooding.||Approximately 7,000 homes and 125 businesses were impacted by flood waters across the county. Clear Creek measured record levels that lead to the widespread flooding throughout Friendswood and League City. Major flooding occurred along the Dickinson Bayou; from Cemetery Road to east of Highway 3 along FM 517. Flood waters inundated sections of Interstate 45, Bay Area Boulevard, FM 528, FM 518 and numerous primary and secondary county roads. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Friendswood | - | There were numerous water rescues within League City, Dickinson and Santa Fe. Flash flood waters, from sheet flooding and bayous/creeks coming out of banks, completely inundated hundreds to thousands of homes and businesses. Roads and highways in and around northern and central Galveston County were flooded and therefore closed for long time periods.||Approximately 7,000 homes and 125 businesses were impacted by flood waters across the county. Clear Creek measured record levels that lead to the widespread flooding throughout Friendswood and League City. Major flooding occurred along the Dickinson Bayou; from Cemetery Road to east of Highway 3 along FM 517. Flood waters inundated sections of Interstate 45, Bay Area Boulevard, FM 528, FM 518 and numerous primary and secondary county roads. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quaker Village | 0.2 miles | 18 | |
| Brown Acres | 0.2 miles | 18 | |
| Perry Grove | 0.3 miles | 18 | |
| Heritage Estates | 0.4 miles | 18 | |
| Lori Woods | 0.5 miles | 18 | |
| Bradley Meadows | 0.5 miles | 18 | |
| Poole | 0.5 miles | 18 | |
| Quaker Landing | 0.5 miles | 18 |
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 Friendswood | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q476497 | 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 1336252. 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.










