BlockBefore

Murphy, Texas

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1924 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Plano census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75094. It stands on Cottonwood Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wylie quadrangle. 21,013 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 581 feet above sea level.

Murphy within Collin County

Population over time

2 figures

Murphy grew from 17,708 to 21,013 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
201017,708
202021,013+3,305 (+19%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

99 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 99 fires within 5 miles of Murphy between 2005 and 2016, burning about 124 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined36
Debris and open burning35
Equipment and vehicle use9
Smoking7
Recreation and ceremony5
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Arson/incendiarism2
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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
8 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServicePARKER RD
5 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service15-349
29 September 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceSANSEN
25 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
22 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service13-0281
2 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service12-0290
17 September 2008Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
14 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service12-0300

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Collin County

Storms near this place

30 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Murphy in 30 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 20 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 1 flash flood. 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
July 2009LightningMurphy$200,000Lightning started a house fire on Claybrook in Wylie. Damage occurred to the attic and second story of the home.
September 2009LightningMurphy$150,000A home in Murphy was completely destroyed on the interior by a fire that was started from a lightning strike.
April 2021HailMurphy$50,000A public report indicated golf ball to hen egg sized hail near the city of Murphy, TX.
March 2016HailMurphy$50,000Ping Pong ball sized hail was reported near Los Rios Blvd and Park Blvd.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindMurphy$25,000Several fences, a trampoline, and a gazebo were lofted into the air, twisted, and destroyed.
April 2021HailMurphy$20,000A public report indicated ping pong ball to golf ball sized hail near the city of Murphy, TX.
March 2016HailMurphy$20,000Up to ping pong ball sized hail reported in Murphy.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindMurphy$15,000Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees and large tree branches in Murphy. Also, several power poles were either snapped or leaning in the city.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindMurphy$10,000Trees and fences were blown down by high thunderstorm wind.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMurphy$5,000A snapped tree was reported in Murphy.
March 2016Thunderstorm WindMurphy$5,000Fire and rescue reported wind destroying a barn and debris being blown into power lines.
September 2009LightningMurphy$5,000Lightning started a fire at a home in Murphy that caused minor damage to the home.
April 2014HailMurphy$1,000Amateur radio spotters reported half dollar sized hail in the city of Murphy.
April 2026HailMurphy-Report of 1 inch hail from mPING.
April 2026HailMurphy-Report of 1 inch hail from mPING.
March 2025HailMurphy-Reported via mPING just east of Murphy.
May 2025HailMurphy-Report from mPING: Half Dollar (1.25 in.).
May 2025HailMurphy-Report from mPING: Ping Pong Ball (1.50 in.).
April 2021HailMurphy-Emergency management reported quarter sized hail near the intersection of Renner Rd and Murphy Rd.
November 2021HailMurphy-A public report indicated quarter sized hail just south of Murphy, TX.
March 2019HailMurphy-Murphy Police Department reported half-dollar size hail at their police station. Quarter sized hail was also reported in Murphy near High Point and Crestwick by a trained spotter.
January 2017Thunderstorm WindMurphy-Public reports an estimated 64 MPH wind gust in Murphy.
March 2017HailMurphy-Amateur radio reported quarter-sized hail near the intersection of Hwy 544 and Mcreary Rd in the city of Sachse, TX.
May 2007HailMurphy-Occurred on East Renner Road.
June 2000Flash FloodMurphy-Flash flooding of streets was reported in town.
May 2016HailMurphy-no account filed
May 2012HailMurphy-no account filed
January 1998HailMurphy-no account filed
May 1996HailMurphy-no account filed
April 1996HailMurphy-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Collin 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
Parker2.8 miles12
Saint Paul3.8 miles12
Wylie3.9 miles12
Plano4.6 miles12
Seis Lagos4.6 miles12
Lucas5.1 miles12
Lavon Lake Lodges6.1 miles12
Trinity Park6.3 miles12

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 MurphyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q973908The 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 1378721. 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.