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Martindale, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Martindale census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78655. It stands on Hemphill Creek. The Survey maps it on the Martindale quadrangle. 1,253 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 525 feet above sea level.

Martindale within Caldwell County

On record in Martindale

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

Martindale grew from 1,116 to 1,253 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
20101,116
20201,253+137 (+12%)

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

84 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Martindale between 2000 and 2018, burning about 1,945 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 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 burning45
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Equipment and vehicle use15
Smoking3
Arson/incendiarism3
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Natural1
Fireworks1

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 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceHAY HAY
4 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWILLIAM PETUS/21
23 September 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service142
23 September 2011Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceTHIRD ST
6 August 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
22 August 2018Debris and open burning6.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCOW TRAIL FIRE
13 August 2008Debris and open burning15 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
5 July 2011Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServicePECAN PARK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Caldwell 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 Martindale: 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
CummingsSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Mercer Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Thompson Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Caldwell County

Storms near this place

22 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Martindale in 22 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 deaths. 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
December 2018Flash FloodMartindale2 killedThunderstorms produced heavy rain that led to flash flooding sending Morrison Creek over SE River Rd. outside Martindale. Two people were killed when their vehicle was swept into the flood waters.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindMartindale$13,000,000As the downburst crossed the Hays County line into Caldwell County, it struck the San Marcos Airport located in extreme eastern Caldwell County. The severe winds caused nearly $7 million in damages to hangars and to between 25 and 30 general aviation aircraft. As it exited the airport, the downburst moved across the Gary Job Corps Center, damaging buildings and knocking over trees. An additional $5 million damage was estimated at the campus. The downburst moved past the campus, across open country and through the town of Martindale. Amateur Radio operators reported trees blown down and damage to numerous roofs, vehicles and fences from west of Martindale and throughout the town. Winds in the event at the airport were estimated at between 80 and 90 knots.
April 2007Thunderstorm WindMartindale$150,000The bow-shaped line along the Hays-Guadalupe-Wilson Counties accelerated as it crossed into Caldwell and Gonzales Counties after 1 am CST. The storms were now producing widespread wind gusts of 60 to 70 knots, with spotty higher gusts approaching 90 knots. Again, most of the damage was in the form of trees blown down, with some damages to roofs of homes. The worst damage was noted in central Lockhart where a old house was blown down. Wind gust estimates at this location were near 95 knots.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMartindale$100,000A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 70 mph that damaged trees, power poles, and power lines along the Guadalupe-Caldwell county line near Martindale.
November 2000Thunderstorm WindMartindale$30,000Severe thunderstorms winds blew down power lines in the Martindale area.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindMartindale$5,000A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph that knocked down a fence and damaged a roof at Scull Rd. and NW River Rd. in Martindale.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindMartindale$5,000A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 70 mph that knocked down trees in and around Martindale.
October 2000Thunderstorm WindMartindale$5,000A downburst from a severe thunderstorm damaged trees, homes between Martindale and Kyle
October 2000Tornado (F0)Martindale$3,000A small and short-lived tornado touched down briefly near a home. It lifted a metal barn vertically, twisting and tossing it.
May 2025HailMartindale-A thunderstorm produced chicken egg size hail in Martindale.
April 2023HailMartindale-A thunderstorm produced hail up to quarter size in Martindale. Hail covered the ground. Most of the hail was nickel size and smaller with a few stones up to an inch.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMartindale-A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 60 mph in Martindale.
February 2017Thunderstorm WindMartindale-A thunderstorm produced wind gusts estimated at 70 mph that damaged a barn roof, front porch awning, and knocked down a 100 year old tree.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindMartindale-A thunderstorm produced a wind gust estimated at 59 mph by a former NWS employee.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindMartindale-Severe thunderstorm winds blew down trees near Martindale.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindMartindale-Thunderstorms forming along the northern Texas Hill Country in the late afternoon spread into Caldwell County by late evening. The storms blew down power lines north of Martindale.
April 2006HailMartindale-no account filed
May 2004HailMartindale-no account filed
May 2000HailMartindale-no account filed
February 1998HailMartindale-no account filed
June 1998HailMartindale-no account filed
May 1996HailMartindale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Caldwell 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
Reedville2.4 miles13
Maxwell3.5 miles13
Fentress7.1 miles13
Uhland8.3 miles13
Prairie Lea9.1 miles15
Lockhart9.5 miles15
Mineral Springs (historical)9.8 miles15
Joliet10.0 miles15

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 MartindaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q972372The 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 1362235. 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.