Necessity, Texas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Breckenridge South census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76429. The Survey maps it on the Necessity quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 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.
- 1890 USGS Breckenridge quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1954 USGS Abilene quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Abilene quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Necessity quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Mineral Wells quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
39 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 39 fires within 5 miles of Necessity between 2001 and 2020, burning about 3,444 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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/undetermined | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 132 |
| 8 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HERDFORD FIRE 207 |
| 7 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | PERKINS |
| 19 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | DAVID |
| 13 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | LOBINGIER FIRE |
| 30 August 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 15 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | ROCK PIT ROAD |
| 30 August 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MERCER FIRE |
| 25 August 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | MONTGOMERY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
5 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Necessity in 5 storm reports between 2009 and 2026: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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 2026 | Hail | Necessity | $11,000 | Emergency manager relayed photos of baseball sized hail in Necessity. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Necessity | $5,000 | Damage to trees and outbuildings was reported in Necessity. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Necessity | $3,000 | Golfball size hail was reported in Necessity. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Necessity | - | A Facebook post reported 1.5 inch hail in south Necessity. |
| April 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Necessity | - | Thunderstorm winds damaged trees around and to the west of the A&E Ranch entrance near CR 102 and Highway 180. In addition, a salt water storage tank was tipped over near the entrance of the ranch. Radar evidence suggests the tornadic development process may have been in progress at the time, resulting in the localized high winds, but a tornado did not develop. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frankell | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Wayland | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| La Casa | 5.6 miles | 13 | |
| Caddo | 7.4 miles | 13 | |
| South Hanlon | 7.7 miles | 14 | |
| Gunsight | 9.0 miles | 13 | |
| Harpersville | 9.1 miles | 13 | |
| Breckenridge | 10.0 miles | 14 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1378730. 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.




