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Timpson, Texas

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Timpson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75975. The Survey maps it on the Timpson quadrangle. 989 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 390 feet above sea level.

Timpson within Shelby County

Population over time

2 figures

Timpson fell from 1,155 to 989 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
20101,155
2020989-166 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

58 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Timpson between 1992 and 2019, burning about 666 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 3 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
Debris and open burning34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Equipment and vehicle use3
Arson/incendiarism3
Natural2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
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
8 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service7102
25 September 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 578
25 September 1993Debris and open burning20 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
22 September 1993Debris and open burning10 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
20 September 2005Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 274
2 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined65 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 452
14 September 2019Debris and open burning17 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSHELBY 14:45
31 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHENDERSON - 479

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Shelby County

Storms near this place

42 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Timpson in 42 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 5 tornado, 5 flash flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. 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
January 1999Flash FloodTimpson1 killedJames Ezra Moore of Timpson, Texas was swept off FM 947 after his truck ran off the road. His body was later found in a flooded creek along FM 947.
May 2015LightningTimpson1 hurtApparent lightning strike struck a window at the Timpson High School and struck a student. The student suffered a brief injury but lived.
July 2024Tornado (EF1)Timpson$200,000An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph touched down in the town of Timpson, where a business lost nearly half of its roof, and a nearby recreational vehicle was also destroyed. City Hall also sustained damage, and two cars were thrown near the intersection of Highway 59 and 84. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were also snapped in town, before tracking northwest while remaining just north of Highway 84. Several trees were snapped here, before the tornado lifted just after crossing FM 1970 just north of CR 4843.
May 2017Tornado (EF1)Timpson$25,000The is a continuation of the Nacogdoches and Rusk County tornado that initially touched down just southwest of Garrison. This tornado had weakened into an EF-1 tornado with maximum estimated winds of 90-95 mph as it entered Northwest Shelby County along Highway 59. At least one outbuilding was heavily damaged as the roof and one wall were torn off, and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado finally lifted just beyond County Road 4759 northwest of Highway 59.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindTimpson$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew down a large metal storage building.
November 1994Thunderstorm WindTimpson$5,000A barn was damaged and some trees were blown down by high winds.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindTimpson$3,000Trees were downed and a metal roof was blown off a shed near Hwy. 87.
March 2025HailTimpson-Quarter size hail reported between Garrison and Timpson.
March 2025HailTimpson-Golf ball size hail reported in Timpson.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindTimpson-First Baptist Church of Timpson sustained exterior damage, reported via broadcast media source and later confirmed via NWS damage survey. Severe wind gusts here knocked the brick veneer off of the front of the church with that veneer falling onto the church awning and destroying that as well.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees uprooted or snapped and a roof sustained damage.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Tree and power lines downed in Timpson.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Numerous trees downed across Shelby County on FM Roads 947, 414 and 699 and the roof was removed from a local hardware store in Timpson.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Widespread trees and power lines were blown down near Timpson.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindTimpson-A NWS Storm Survey confirmed that damaging straight-line winds estimated to be near 95 mph snapped and uprooted about 20 softwood and hardwood trees along FM 1970 northwest of Timpson just south of the Panola County line. Wind damage also occurred in the town of Timpson, where roofs were partially ripped off of at least three commercial buildings in town. As the storm continued southeast of Timpson, more widespread straight-line wind damage was noted along County Road 4323 and County Road 4243. All damage was determined to be from straight-line winds due to the orientation of the damage blown in a southeast direction with the movement of the thunderstorm.
April 2023HailTimpson-Quarter size hail fell in Timpson.
April 2023HailTimpson-Hen egg size hail fell at Lake Timpson.
May 2023Flash FloodTimpson-Highway 96 south of Tenaha was closed due to flooding. Numerous roads were also flooded and closed in Timpson.
April 2020Tornado (EF1)Timpson-An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 90 mph briefly touched down in a primarily wooded area along County Road 4037 just southeast of Timpson. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees along its path before lifting.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees were blown down near the Shelby/Panola County line northwest of Timpson.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees were blown down blocking one lane of North 2nd Street.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees were blown down on Farm to Market Road 415 just off of Highway 87.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Numerous trees were downed in the Timpson, Texas community.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Several trees were downed along FM 1970 west of Timpson, Texas.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees were downed along CR 4775 southwest of Timpson, Texas.
January 2016HailTimpson-Quarter size hail reported in Timpson.
February 2013Tornado (EF0)Timpson-The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and determined that a weak EF0 tornado touched down near Timpson, Texas. Storm damage consisted of several large snapped hardwood branches along County Road 4916 and also along US Hwy. 59.
December 2013Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Several trees were downed in the Timpson community.
July 2012HailTimpson-Quarter sized hail was reported in Timpson, Texas.
October 2009Flash FloodTimpson-Flooding was reported in the downtown Timpson, Texas community.
October 2009Flash FloodTimpson-Numerous roads were flooded across the county.
April 2005HailTimpson-Hail covered the ground.
May 2004Flash FloodTimpson-Hwy 59 and 87 were closed due to high water across them.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Telephone poles and numerous trees down.
December 2002Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Several large trees down.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Several large trees down across town.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindTimpson-Trees and powerlines down.
April 2017HailTimpson-no account filed
November 2012HailTimpson-no account filed
March 2000HailTimpson-no account filed
April 1996Tornado (F1)Timpson-no account filed
April 1993HailTimpson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Shelby 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
Meldrum3.4 miles11
Bobo4.0 miles11
Tennessee5.5 miles11
Silas5.5 miles11
Huber6.6 miles11
Saxet6.7 miles11
Folsom8.0 miles11
Tenaha8.5 miles12

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 TimpsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q981484The 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 1369956. 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.