BlockBefore

Princeton, Texas

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Princeton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75407. The Survey maps it on the Culleoka quadrangle. 43,524 people lived here at the 2025 count. It stands 574 feet above sea level.

Princeton within Collin County

Population over time

2 figures

Princeton grew from 6,807 to 17,027 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
20106,807
202017,027+10,220 (+150%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

43 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 43 fires within 5 miles of Princeton between 2005 and 2019, burning about 209 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/undetermined20
Debris and open burning10
Equipment and vehicle use9
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Smoking1

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
21 September 2011Smokingunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceE UNIVERSITY & FM 1827
20 September 2006Debris and open burning5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceNORTH BRANCH - 217
13 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWELDER FIRE
1 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceUNIVERSITY & BRIDGEFARMER
7 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceFM 1377 MA GRASS FIRE
29 August 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCULLEOKA NORTH BRANCH - 86
8 July 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceFM 546
4 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceMORROW FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Collin County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Princeton: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Redding Stone Garrett QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Collin County

Storms near this place

29 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Princeton in 29 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 12 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
October 1994Tornado (F1)Princeton2 hurt, $500,000A small tornado moved through this rural community destroying eight mobile homes and damaging twenty-one.
April 2014Tornado (EF0)Princeton1 hurt, $200,000A National Weather Service storm survey crew determined a tornado caused EF0 damage to a subdivision in Princeton. The tornado produced damage to a number of homes, along with several fences which were blown down.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$160,000The Collin County emergency manager reported thunderstorm winds knocked several trees onto homes in and near Princeton. Approximately 20 homes sustained minor roof damage, while one mobile home sustained significant damage.
September 2025LightningPrinceton$100,000Two house fires were caused by lightning in the Brookside community in Princeton.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$50,000A trained spotter estimated winds near 65 mph in Princeton.
February 2001Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$50,000A shed and a mobile home were destroyed by high winds.
September 2005Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$15,000Trees, fences, and power lines knocked down.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$14,000no account filed
March 2016HailPrinceton$8,000no account filed
June 2023HailPrinceton$7,000Golf ball size hail was reported in Princeton.
October 1998Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$5,000A tree was blown down onto a truck.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindPrinceton$2,000no account filed
March 2025HailPrinceton-Amateur radio operator reported half dollar sized hail in downtown Princeton.
May 2024HailPrinceton-Reported via mPing.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindPrinceton-A social media report indicated a large downed tree in Princeton.
March 2022HailPrinceton-A public report indicated half-dollar sized hail in Princeton, TX.
August 2020HailPrinceton-A trained spotter reported dime-sized hail near the city of Princeton, TX.
April 2017HailPrinceton-A social media report indicated quarter-sized hail in the city of Princeton, TX.
July 2017Flash FloodPrinceton-Collin County Sheriff's Department reported that Monte Carlo Blvd at U.S. 380 was flooded in the city of Princeton, TX.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindPrinceton-A public report indicated that multiple large trees were blown down in the city of Princeton, TX.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindPrinceton-A 70 mph wind gust was observed in the city of Princeton.
March 2014HailPrinceton-Penny to quarter sized hail was reported in Princeton from 8:24-8:30 pm.
January 1998Flash FloodPrinceton-Roads were reported flooded in and around town.
April 2008HailPrinceton-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindPrinceton-no account filed
February 1996WildfirePrinceton-no account filed
July 1996HailPrinceton-no account filed
April 1996HailPrinceton-no account filed
May 1995HailPrinceton-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
Milligan2.6 miles11
Biggers (historical)2.8 miles11
Climax3.1 miles10
Lowry Crossing3.1 miles11
Culleoka3.4 miles10
New Hope4.1 miles11
Altoga4.8 miles10
Lavon Shores Estates5.2 miles11

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 PrincetonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q620301The 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 1344570. 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.