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.
Population over time
3 figuresMurchison 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 592 | |
| 2010 | 594 | +2 (+0%) |
| 2020 | 516 | -78 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1948 USGS Brownsboro quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Brownsboro quadrangle1:62500
- 1956 USGS Tyler quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1984 USGS Murchison East quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Tyler quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Tyler quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Tyler quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
158 since 1992Regional 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 burning | 98 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 909092 |
| 9 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 8 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 0908172 PASTURE FIRE |
| 6 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MURCHISON HWY 31 W |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 906091 |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 906092 |
| 25 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 0925171 GRASS FIRE |
| 22 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 0922121 GRASS FIRE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acme Pit | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Larue Pit | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Acme Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Black Jack Pit | Clay | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Larue Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Southern Clay Pit | Clay | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Southern Clay Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Texas Clay Pit 1 | Clay | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Clay | Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
10 since 1993Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | $80,000 | Several 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 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew a tree onto a business, and numerous trees were blown down with roof damage in the area. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | $5,000 | Spotter reported estimated wind gust of 70 mph 3 miles E of Murchison. |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | $5,000 | Power 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 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | $5,000 | Trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Murchison | - | Amateur radio operator reported quarter sized hail at HWY 31 and FM 1803, east of Murchison. |
| October 2010 | Hail | Murchison | - | Quarter size hail was reported in Murchison. |
| October 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Murchison | - | Murchison city official reported tree branches broken in town. |
| May 1999 | Hail | Murchison | - | no account filed |
| January 1998 | Hail | Murchison | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opelika | 4.2 miles | 13 | |
| Bethel | 5.1 miles | 13 | |
| Sumer Hill | 5.5 miles | 13 | |
| Leagueville | 6.0 miles | 15 | |
| Brownsboro | 7.4 miles | 13 | |
| Athens | 7.6 miles | 16 | |
| Baxter | 7.6 miles | 15 | |
| New Hope | 8.3 miles | 13 |
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 Murchison | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q982158 | The 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.






