BlockBefore

Kountze, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Kountze census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77625. It stands on Pea Monk Branch. The Survey maps it on the Kountze South quadrangle. 1,981 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 85 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Kountze within Hardin County

On record in Kountze

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Kountze fell from 2,123 to 1,981 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
20102,123
20201,981-142 (-7%)

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

136 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of Kountze between 1992 and 2016, burning about 7,213 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 36 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
Debris and open burning58
Arson/incendiarism36
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Natural8
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Recreation and ceremony4
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking1
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
9 September 1993Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
6 September 2005Debris and open burning16 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWOODVILLE - 190
30 September 1992Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
29 September 2007Arson/incendiarism7.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWOODVILLE - 78
28 September 2008Debris and open burning30 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWOODVILLE - 212
2 September 2000Natural1.0 acresBig Thicket National ParkTFS 625
2 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
2 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined227 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hardin County

Storms near this place

42 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kountze in 42 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 18 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 4 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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
November 2004Tornado (F2)Kountze1 killed, $500,000no account filed
January 1998Thunderstorm WindKountze$50,000no account filed
April 2016Thunderstorm WindKountze$10,000Numerous trees and power lines were downed across Hardin County.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindKountze$10,000no account filed
April 2006Tornado (F0)Kountze$10,000no account filed
November 2003Thunderstorm WindKountze$10,000no account filed
January 1999Thunderstorm WindKountze$10,000no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindKountze$5,000Trees were blown down near Kountze.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindKountze$5,000Damaging winds in Kountze. Numerous trees knocked over at Silsbee.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindKountze$5,000no account filed
November 2000Thunderstorm WindKountze$5,000no account filed
June 1997FloodKountze$5,000no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindKountze$5,000no account filed
October 2006Flash FloodKountze$3,000Several highways around Kountze were closed due to high water.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindKountze$2,000The Kountze Fire Department reported a roof collapse at a car wash near the Dollar General.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindKountze$2,000A thunderstorm damaged carport covers behind City Hall.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindKountze$2,000The Hardin County Sheriffs Department reported trees down along Highway 69 in Kountze.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindKountze$2,000no account filed
May 2015Thunderstorm WindKountze$1,000A tree was blown down onto northbound Highway 69 northwest of Kountze.
January 2024HailKountze-A severe thunderstorm produced 1.25 inch hail near Kountze.
January 2024HailKountze-Golf ball sized hail reported by the public.
May 2024HailKountze-The Hardin County Emergency Manager observed half dollar size hail.
May 2024HailKountze-The Hardin County EM relayed a report of quarter size hail in Kountze.
July 2024Flash FloodKountze-Minor street flooding occurred north of Sour Lake. A stream gage also indicated water exceeded bank full.
April 2023HailKountze-A picture of 2 inch in diameter hail posted to social media.
April 2023HailKountze-A video was received through social media of ping pong ball sized hail.
September 2020Flash FloodKountze-Water blocked multiple roadways near and west of Kountze.
May 2019HailKountze-Pictures posted to social media showed hail around the size of golf ball in Kountze.
May 2017HailKountze-Quarter size hail was reported near Village Mills in Kountze.
April 2016Flash FloodKountze-Numerous streets were flooding around Silsbee and Kountze including Highway 92.
March 1995HailKountze-Quarter-sized hail reported by sheriff.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindKountze-Damaging winds blew trees and power lines down.
December 1995Thunderstorm WindKountze-Tree blown down on Highway 326.
December 1995Thunderstorm WindKountze-Tree blown down on Highway 326.
October 1994HailKountze-A severe thunderstorm produced 3.00-inch diameter hail in northwestern Hardin County.
May 2008HailKountze-no account filed
May 2006HailKountze-no account filed
May 2006HailKountze-no account filed
January 1998HailKountze-no account filed
January 1998HailKountze-no account filed
April 1997HailKountze-no account filed
March 1995HailKountze-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hardin 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
Nona2.8 miles13
Fresenius4.0 miles12
Dies4.6 miles13
Honey Island7.0 miles13
Silsbee7.3 miles13
Seth8.5 miles13
Lelavale9.4 miles13
Lumberton9.4 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 KountzeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q976759The 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 1374401. 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.

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.