Sweeny, Texas
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Brazoria-West Columbia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77480. The Survey maps it on the Sweeny quadrangle. 3,626 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 30 feet above sea level.
On record in Sweeny
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Gazebo for James Richard Marmionlisted 2004
Palapa Table for James Richard Marmionlisted 2004
Population over time
2 figuresSweeny fell from 3,684 to 3,626 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,684 | |
| 2020 | 3,626 | -58 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1950 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000
- 1952 USGS Sweeny quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1975 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Angleton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Sweeny between 2008 and 2009, burning about 32 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 244 |
| 17 July 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | PAN AMERICA |
| 10 July 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 244F |
| 8 May 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 347 |
| 22 May 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 345 |
| 3 March 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 344 |
| 25 March 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 244A |
| 15 February 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | FM 522 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Sweeny: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sulfur, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pand W Materials Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand | |
| Sweeny Sulfur Plant | Sulfur | Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sweeny in 11 storm reports between 1993 and 2021: 4 flash flood, 3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Sweeny | $500,000 | Heavy rainfall caused flooding of 30 to 35 homes in the town of Sweeny. |
| September 2002 | Flash Flood | Sweeny | $250,000 | Waist deep water and flooding in Sweeny. |
| February 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | Sweeny | $100,000 | This EF-0 tornado touched down along CR 321 and then dissipated near the intersection of FM 524 and CR 321. Damage was mainly to trees and power lines. Estimated peak winds were 75 mph. |
| August 2002 | Hail | Sweeny | $10,000 | Dime size hail. |
| June 2004 | Hail | Sweeny | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2021 | Flash Flood | Sweeny | $5,000 | Vehicles were flooded in Sweeny due to heavy rain. |
| June 2004 | Flash Flood | Sweeny | $5,000 | Roads flooded in and around Sweeny. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sweeny | $5,000 | Trees blown down. |
| May 1993 | Hail | Sweeny | $5,000 | Brazoria County Deputy Sheriff reported nickel-size hail in Sweeny. |
| March 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sweeny | - | There was some wind damage around Sweeny. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sweeny | - | Trees and power lines were reported downed around town. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Bernardo | 2.4 miles | 10 | |
| Abercrombie | 2.9 miles | 11 | |
| Four Corners | 3.8 miles | 10 | |
| Old Ocean | 3.9 miles | 10 | |
| Hasima | 4.1 miles | 11 | |
| Wild Peach | 4.6 miles | 10 | |
| Wild Peach Village | 4.6 miles | 10 | |
| Brazoria | 6.9 miles | 10 |
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 Sweeny | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q973572 | 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 1369461. 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.




