Rochester, Texas
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Rochester census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79544. The Survey maps it on the Rochester quadrangle. 248 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,594 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresRochester fell from 378 to 248 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 | 378 | |
| 2010 | 324 | -54 (-14%) |
| 2020 | 248 | -76 (-23%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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.
- 1954 USGS Wichita Falls quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Wichita Falls quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Rochester quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Haskell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
26 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Rochester between 2005 and 2019, burning about 525 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None 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 | 15 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2016 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | BAR DITCH FIRE FM2407 |
| 28 August 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | PASTURE FIRE CR 132 |
| 23 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 14-0823A |
| 18 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE EVERETT |
| 8 July 2017 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE CR 132 |
| 20 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS/BRUSH |
| 20 July 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 3 May 2006 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
45 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rochester in 45 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 24 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 wildfire. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2018 | Flood | Rochester | $2,300,000 | TXDOT reported FM 617 between Rochester and Weinert closed due to flooding. Many other roads were affected across Haskell County. Prolonged heavy rainfall flooded roads across Haskell County and this flooding damaged some roads in the county. This damage and flooding was exasperated by all of the rainfall since September. |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $80,000 | Winds estimated to near 100 MPH moved across northern portions of Haskell county damaging buildings, power lines and trees. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $50,000 | A downburst destroyed barns, blew down trees and power lines, and damaged homes. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $9,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Emergency manager reports a roof was damaged at a school. Numerous trees were also blown down across Rochester. Time estimated via radar. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Rochester | - | The time was estimated from radar. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | A trained spotter estimated a 60 mph wind gust in Rochester. |
| September 2018 | Flash Flood | Rochester | - | Water was reported over FM 617 about 4 miles east of Rochester. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | The sheriff's Office estimated a wind gust of 70 mph in Rochester. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | The Haskell County Sheriff's Office reported a wind gust of 60 mph in Rochester. |
| October 2014 | Hail | Rochester | - | Law enforcement reported dime to nickel size hail covering the ground. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | The Public reported downed tree limbs and estimated winds of 70 mph. |
| October 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | A trained spotter estimated a wind gust of 52 knots. |
| October 2012 | Hail | Rochester | - | This large hail was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts around 60 mph. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Power poles were blown down 2 miles south of Rochester. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Damage confined to tree limbs. |
| April 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | 60 mph wind gust. |
| June 1995 | Tornado (F0) | Rochester | - | A brief tornado touchdown was reported. |
| June 1995 | Tornado (F0) | Rochester | - | A brief tornado touchdown was reported. |
| March 1995 | Hail | Rochester | - | High winds blew a roof off a carport. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| March 2000 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| November 1996 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| March 1996 | Wildfire | Rochester | - | 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.
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 Rochester | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q972889 | 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 1366626. 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.



