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Murchison, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Athens census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75778. The Survey maps it on the Murchison East quadrangle. 516 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 456 feet above sea level.

Murchison within Henderson County

Population over time

3 figures

Murchison fell from 592 to 516 between 2000 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
2000592
2010594+2 (+0%)
2020516-78 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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

158 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 158 fires within 5 miles of Murchison between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,482 acres in total. 3 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 burning98
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Equipment and vehicle use8
Smoking7
Natural3
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Fireworks1
Other causes1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 2009Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service909092
9 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
8 September 2017Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service0908172 PASTURE FIRE
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceMURCHISON HWY 31 W
6 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service906091
6 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service906092
25 September 2017Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service0925171 GRASS FIRE
22 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service0922121 GRASS FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Henderson County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Murchison: 8 producers, 1 past producer. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Fire Clay (Refractory). 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
Acme PitFire Clay (Refractory)ProducerSedimentary
Larue PitFire Clay (Refractory)ProducerSedimentary
Acme PitClayPast Producer
Black Jack PitClayProducerSedimentary
Larue PitClayProducer
Southern Clay PitClayProducerSedimentary
Southern Clay PitClayProducer
Texas Clay Pit 1ClayProducer
Unnamed PitClayProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Henderson County

Storms near this place

10 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Murchison in 10 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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
March 2008Thunderstorm WindMurchison$80,000Several houses had roof damage along CR 1803. One roof of a mobile home was blown several yards away into some treetops. A barn also collapsed in the area.
April 1993Thunderstorm WindMurchison$50,000Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto a business, and numerous trees were blown down with roof damage in the area.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMurchison$5,000Spotter reported estimated wind gust of 70 mph 3 miles E of Murchison.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMurchison$5,000Power lines were downed near Lake Palestine. Downed trees were reported on Highway 31 East and FM 317 and also at the intersection of Meredith and Cook Streets. Tree limbs were down near the intersection of Highway 31 and LaCosta Street near Athens.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindMurchison$5,000Trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
March 2025HailMurchison-Amateur radio operator reported quarter sized hail at HWY 31 and FM 1803, east of Murchison.
October 2010HailMurchison-Quarter size hail was reported in Murchison.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindMurchison-Murchison city official reported tree branches broken in town.
May 1999HailMurchison-no account filed
January 1998HailMurchison-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Henderson 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
Opelika4.2 miles13
Bethel5.1 miles13
Sumer Hill5.5 miles13
Leagueville6.0 miles15
Brownsboro7.4 miles13
Athens7.6 miles16
Baxter7.6 miles15
New Hope8.3 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 MurchisonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q982158The 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 1375068. 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.