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Petrolia, Texas

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Byers-Petrolia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76377. The Survey maps it on the Petrolia quadrangle. 514 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 997 feet above sea level.

Petrolia within Clay County

Population over time

2 figures

Petrolia fell from 686 to 514 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
2010686
2020514-172 (-25%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 10 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

136 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of Petrolia between 2005 and 2020, burning about 21,196 acres in total. 6 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/undetermined69
Equipment and vehicle use26
Power generation/transmission/distribution22
Debris and open burning10
Natural6
Arson/incendiarism1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
5 September 2011Arson/incendiarism100 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceF.M. 1197 @ DOUTHETT RD. FIRE
4 September 2014Debris and open burning200 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceZACHREY RD
4 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined450 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSCHAFFNER FIRE
30 September 2013Debris and open burning5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceELLEDGE N MORGAN
24 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceMCADAMS FIRE
21 September 2020Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service9212020
21 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceARNHOLD FIRE
20 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use50 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceZACHERY RANCH FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Petrolia: 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper. 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
Ship RanchCopperOccurrence1973
Taylor Estate-1CopperOccurrence1973

Every working recorded in Clay County

Storms near this place

41 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Petrolia in 41 storm reports between 1994 and 2020: 27 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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
April 1996HailPetrolia$380,000no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia$150,000Several vehicles were damaged in the high school and junior high-elementary parking lots. Some homes were also damaged.
October 2012Thunderstorm WindPetrolia$10,000Power poles were reported down near Highway 148 and FM 2332.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindPetrolia$6,000A roof was blown off a pizza restaurant.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindPetrolia$2,500Trees were downed across town.
March 2004Thunderstorm WindPetrolia$1,000A tree was reported downed.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindPetrolia$1,000The roof of a barn was blown off.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindPetrolia-Estimated 12-inch large tree trunk downed.
June 2016Flash FloodPetrolia-Highway 148 north was closed at Mayo road north of Henrietta.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindPetrolia-No damage reported.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindPetrolia-No damage occurred with the wind gust.
August 2008FloodPetrolia-Several roadways continued to be closed due to earlier heavy rainfall.
August 2008Flash FloodPetrolia-Highway 79 was closed due to high water at the intersection of Highway 810. Other county roads were also closed.
June 2007Flash FloodPetrolia-St. HWY 148 was closed due to high water.
April 2004Tornado (F0)Petrolia-A tornado was observed by several storm chasers and spotters touching down in an open field. No damage was reported.
July 1994HailPetrolia-An isolated severe thunderstorm in the western part of north Texas during the morning hours on the 1st produced hail up to nickel-size.
June 1994HailPetrolia-A thunderstorm in the western part of north Texas produced hail up to dime-size during the morning hours on the 11th.
May 2020HailPetrolia-no account filed
March 2018HailPetrolia-no account filed
March 2018HailPetrolia-no account filed
March 2018HailPetrolia-no account filed
May 2017HailPetrolia-no account filed
May 2012HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2008HailPetrolia-no account filed
July 2005HailPetrolia-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPetrolia-no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
May 2004HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2002HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2002HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 2002HailPetrolia-no account filed
July 2002HailPetrolia-no account filed
March 2001HailPetrolia-no account filed
June 2001HailPetrolia-no account filed
May 2000HailPetrolia-no account filed
June 1996HailPetrolia-no account filed
April 1995HailPetrolia-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clay 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
Byers4.4 miles10
Hurnville5.0 miles8
Charlie7.2 miles11
Dean7.4 miles8
Thornberry8.9 miles10
Jolly12.0 miles8
Stanfield12.7 miles10
Raymond12.7 miles10

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 PetroliaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q976265The 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 1365114. 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.