Surfside, Texas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1974. It stands in the Brazosport census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77541. The Survey maps it on the Freeport quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1943 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:24000
- 1943 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:31680
- 1951 USGS Bay City quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bay City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Bay City quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1974 USGS Bay City quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
27 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Surfside between 2000 and 2017, burning about 454 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| Smoking | 7 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | CENTER POINT |
| 21 September 2001 | Natural | under an acre | Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge | SLOPASSIST |
| 12 September 2011 | Smoking | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | PORT FREEPORT |
| 6 August 2014 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | VELASCO |
| 11 August 2009 | Smoking | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 332/690 |
| 10 August 2016 | Natural | 2.7 acres | Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge | HIDEAWAY FIRE |
| 5 July 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | INTERCOASTAL WATERWAY |
| 4 July 2013 | Smoking | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | BRAZOS RIVER AT BAYWOOD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Surfside: 1 past producer, 1 producer, 1 plant. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Magnesite, Sulfur, Halite, Limestone, Ultra Pure. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Mound Mine | Sulfur, Halite, Limestone, Ultra Pure | Past Producer | 1904, 1912, 1968 | |
| Dow Chemical Plant | Magnesite | Producer | ||
| Dow Freeport Plants A and B | Magnesite | Plant | 1941 |
Storms near this place
1 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Surfside in 1 storm report in 1994: 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1994 | Tornado (F0) | Surfside | $50,000 | A small tornado briefly touched down in the city of Surfside, then moved offshore before dissipating. One abandoned home was completely destroyed while about seven others received minor damage to roofs and windows. The storm moved from northeast to southwest. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surfside Beach | 0.5 miles | 12 | |
| Quintana | 0.9 miles | 12 | |
| Brazosport | 0.9 miles | 12 | |
| Quintana Beach | 1.7 miles | 12 | |
| Midway | 2.2 miles | 12 | |
| Freeport | 3.4 miles | 12 | |
| Velasco | 3.6 miles | 12 | |
| Oyster Creek | 4.5 miles | 12 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1369429. 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.






