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Gordon, Texas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Strawn-Gordon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76453. It lies near Wilbar Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Gordon quadrangle. 470 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 968 feet above sea level.

Gordon within Palo Pinto County

Population over time

2 figures

Gordon fell from 478 to 470 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
2010478
2020470-8 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 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

231 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 231 fires within 5 miles of Gordon between 2005 and 2020, burning about 4,028 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 2 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
Equipment and vehicle use113
Debris and open burning60
Missing data/not specified/undetermined31
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Natural5
Recreation and ceremony4
Arson/incendiarism2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1

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
8 September 2016Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceROCK
8 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGILMORE
6 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceREED
6 September 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE CR 107
4 September 2016Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceBAKER
29 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service370I20
27 September 2014Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service374I20
22 September 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHWY193

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Palo Pinto County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Gordon: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Palo Pinto County

Storms near this place

50 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gordon in 50 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 30 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 4 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
May 2025Tornado (EF1)Gordon4 hurt, $750,000An EF-1 tornado formed north of Gordon and moved south-southeast into Gordon. One property near FM 919 and Harlin Road sustained damage to a small building on the property and 2 barns. In the town of Gordon, notable tree damage and power pole damage was observed along with damage to roofs. Most of the roof damage was partial removal of metal panels, leaving some homes with holes in their roofs. The school stadium and nearby athletic fields also suffered significant damage to the locker rooms, weight room, bleachers, scoreboards, and more. One tall stadium light pole was bent in half. In the southeast part of Gordon, a manufactured home was destroyed. In Gordon is where the tornado received its strongest rating of EF-1 with 105 mph winds. The tornado was tracked through tree damage just outside of Gordon to the southeast where it dissipated. Several minor injuries were reported with 4 hospital transports, but all 4 were already released the next morning.
October 1996HailGordon$50,000no account filed
April 2008HailGordon$20,000Golfball to baseball-size hail was reported in town.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGordon$10,000A public report indicated trees downed and roof damage to metal buildings along Dairy Farm Road in Mingus, TX.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGordon$10,000Social media images indicated a porch roof torn off of a home, and a small metal outbuilding destroyed in Gordon, Texas.
April 2007HailGordon$10,000Golfball-size hail reported.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindGordon$10,000Several homes had roof damage from thunderstorm winds.
April 2011HailGordon$8,000The COOP Observer located at city hall reported hail up to the size of golfballs.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGordon$5,000A public report included images of a small metal outbuilding destroyed in the Coalville area northeast of Gordon.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGordon$5,000Trees and power lines were blown down by high winds.
October 1994Thunderstorm WindGordon$5,000Large tree limbs and a power line was blown down.
April 2011HailGordon$5,000no account filed
May 2011HailGordon$5,000no account filed
June 2023HailGordon$3,000A trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail 2 miles northeast of Gordon.
September 2009HailGordon$2,000Golfball size hail fell just north of the town of Gordon.
September 2009Flash FloodGordon$1,000Flooding was reported at the intersection of FM 919 and FM 2692. In addition, persistent street flooding was reported in Gordon.
September 2009HailGordon$1,000A COOP Observer reported Pea to Golfball size hail 1 mile southwest of Gordon.
May 2018HailGordon-Emergency management officials reports one inch size hail in the city of Gordon.
March 2016HailGordon-Quarter sized hail in the Metcalf Gap area.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindGordon-Trained spotters reported winds estimated at 70 mph. Numerous tree limbs were blown down, and a few trees were uprooted.
May 2015Tornado (EF0)Gordon-Amateur radio operators observed a brief tornado approximately 3 miles northeast of Gordon. The tornado produced minimal damage to ranch land.
May 2015HailGordon-Trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail east of Gordon.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindGordon-A 60 MPH wind gust was estimated west of Gordon.
September 2009HailGordon-Golfball size hail fell in Gordon.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindGordon-Spotters estimated 60 MPH winds in Gordon and Mingus. Power was out in both cities and also around Possum Kingdom Lake.
April 2008Flash FloodGordon-Water was reported over roads in town and also on Highway 4 south of Interstate 20 east of town.
June 2007FloodGordon-Several roads remained closed including FM 4 south of Interstate 20, South Lake View Road, FM 2201 and FM 919 north of Gordon, and Highway 281 south of FM 4.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindGordon-4 inch diameter limbs blown down by high winds.
May 1997Flash FloodGordon-Streets were flooded in town due to 5.90 inches of rain that fell in the area.
May 1997Flash FloodGordon-A few roads in and around town were reported flooded.
April 2021HailGordon-no account filed
April 2008HailGordon-no account filed
June 2004HailGordon-no account filed
August 2003HailGordon-no account filed
May 2003HailGordon-no account filed
March 2002HailGordon-no account filed
May 2002HailGordon-no account filed
September 2001Thunderstorm WindGordon-no account filed
March 2000HailGordon-no account filed
October 1998HailGordon-no account filed
March 1998HailGordon-no account filed
March 1997HailGordon-no account filed
May 1996HailGordon-no account filed
September 1996Flash FloodGordon-no account filed
September 1996HailGordon-no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindGordon-no account filed
April 1994HailGordon-no account filed
April 1994HailGordon-no account filed
April 1994HailGordon-no account filed
May 1994HailGordon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Palo Pinto 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
Coalville2.7 miles16
Gordon Junction2.9 miles16
Mingus2.9 miles16
Lyra5.3 miles16
Strawn6.8 miles16
Santo9.0 miles21
Lone Camp10.5 miles16
Metcalf Gap11.8 miles16

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 GordonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q979165The 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 1336733. 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.