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Kempner, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Lampasas census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76539. It stands on Binnion Creek. The Survey maps it on the Kempner quadrangle. 1,146 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 866 feet above sea level.

Kempner within Lampasas County

Population over time

2 figures

Kempner grew from 1,089 to 1,146 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
20101,089
20201,146+57 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

67 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of Kempner between 2005 and 2020, burning about 723 acres in total. 1 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined37
Debris and open burning18
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use3
Natural1
Arson/incendiarism1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service726 CR 4804
8 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 4700
8 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service824 CR 4820
7 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWATER BOX
7 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service902 CR 3350
6 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service2204 CR 3220
5 August 2012Smoking1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service5693FM2313
30 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 4765

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lampasas 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 Kempner: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General. 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
Clayton PitLimestone, General, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Lampasas Sand & Gravel Co IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Odell Greer Construction CompanyStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Lampasas County

Storms near this place

38 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kempner in 38 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 16 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 3 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2007Tornado (EF0)Kempner1 hurt, $100,000Several modular homes were damaged as a brief tornado touched down off of FM 2657, on Sleepy Hollow Lane and Carroll Drive, just inside the Lampasas County line. Homes sustained roof and deck damage and a few were blown slightly off their foundations. Trees and fences were also torn down. One minor injury was reported when a woman was hit by flying debris. Eighteen residents were displaced. The tornado continued into Coryell County.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindKempner$50,000High winds unroofed a church, damaged a nursing home and a house, uprooted trees and blew over a fruit stand.
June 2014HailKempner$25,000Hen egg sized hail in Kempner damaged vehicles.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindKempner$10,000A home weather station measured an 82 mph wind gust. Shingle damage was reported in the area.
March 2004Thunderstorm WindKempner$10,000A barn was unroofed, a patio cover was destroyed, and many trees were blown down.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindKempner$6,000A county official reported trees down and barn roofs damaged near the city of Kempner, TX. A roof was torn off of an uninhabited home along Hwy 190.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindKempner$5,000A public report indicated that the roof of a metal garage was removed and the walls collapsed.
June 2014HailKempner$5,000Golf ball sized hail was reported 4 miles west of Kempner.
April 2010HailKempner$5,000Golfball size hail was reported in Kempner.
June 2009HailKempner$5,000Hail up to the size of Tennis Balls was reported by a CoCoRaHS observer located 6.2 miles east of Lampasas. The hail lasted for 15 minutes. The hail shredded leaves off trees and tore a few small branches off trees.
August 2004Flash FloodKempner$5,000Numerous county roads were closed around Kempner and at least one road just east of town was washed out. Rainfall around Kempner ranged from 5 to 7.2 inches Thursday through Saturday. The county had three day rainfall totals ranging from 3 inches at Lampasas to 7.4 inches just north of Adamsville.
May 2018HailKempner$4,000Spotters report 1 inch size hail driven into wall, causing damage to north and east walls.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindKempner$2,000Fences were blown down a mile southeast of Kempner.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindKempner$2,000Sixty MPH winds were estimated in Kempner.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindKempner$2,000A tin roof was blown off a barn.
May 2025Flash FloodKempner-Lampasas River at Kempner rose 3.5 feet in 30 minutes.
July 2025Flash FloodKempner-Emergency management reported that County Road 3300 was shut down near Kempner due to flooding.
May 2022HailKempner-A public report indicated quarter sized hail about 3 miles south-southwest of Kempner, TX.
November 2022HailKempner-Reported via mPing.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindKempner-A county official reported trees down in eastern Lampasas County.
June 2019HailKempner-A social media report indicated ping pong ball size hail in the city of Kempner, TX.
April 2018HailKempner-A public report indicated quarter-sized hail approximately 7 miles east of the city of Lampasas, TX.
May 2018HailKempner-Quarter size hail reported in Kempner.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindKempner-A trained spotter reported considerable tree damage along FM 2313 north of the city of Kempner, TX, including multiple large oak trees downed.
May 2018HailKempner-Social media reports show up to ping pong ball size hail near Kempner.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindKempner-Emergency management reported roof damage to 5 houses, power poles snapped and numerous trees down in Kempner, TX.
June 2007Flash FloodKempner-Two sections of FM 2657 were briefly flooded and closed.
June 2007Flash FloodKempner-FM 2808, FM 2657, CR 3220, and CR 4804 were impassable due to high water.
April 2006Tornado (F0)Kempner-Over open country; no damage reported.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindKempner-Several trees blown down.
May 2001HailKempner-Windows were broken out at Allen Estates.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindKempner-A church sign was blown down and several trees were blown down as well.
November 2000Flash FloodKempner-Flash flooding was reported by local law enforcement.
May 1994Tornado (F0)Kempner-A brief tornado was reported by a storm chaser.
March 2023HailKempner-no account filed
November 2022HailKempner-no account filed
May 2001HailKempner-no account filed
May 2001HailKempner-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lampasas 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
Hallmark Crossing2.6 miles13
Brooks Crossing3.7 miles13
Shortall4.2 miles13
Sparks Crossing7.1 miles12
Rumley7.2 miles13
Radio Junction8.8 miles12
Lampasas9.6 miles12
Izoro15.2 miles13

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 KempnerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q980561The 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 1360564. 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.