Tool, Texas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1920 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Cedar Creek Lake census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75143. The Survey maps it on the Tool quadrangle. 2,175 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 341 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresTool fell from 2,275 to 2,175 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 | 2,275 | |
| 2010 | 2,240 | -35 (-2%) |
| 2020 | 2,175 | -65 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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.
- 1920 USGS Kemp quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Dallas quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Kemp quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Dallas quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Tool quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Corsicana quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
132 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 132 fires within 5 miles of Tool between 1998 and 2020, burning about 1,421 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 7 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 burning | 52 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | SPILLWAY FIRE |
| 4 September 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MEADOW HEATH |
| 4 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 3 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 26 September 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | DEL MAR - GRANADA FIRE |
| 25 September 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MCFALL |
| 25 September 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | BEDFORDS BEND |
| 23 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | STATE OF TEXAS |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Tool: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jomac Pit & Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
31 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tool in 31 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 14 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 flood. The reports record 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2007 | Lightning | Tool | 1 hurt | Person struck by lightning in Seven Points. |
| March 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $3,000,000 | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $400,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Tool | $100,000 | Significant flash flooding was reported in western Henderson County. Numerous high water rescues were conducted in the cities of Eustace, Log Cabin, Malakoff, Key Rance, and Goliad. The Precinct 1 County Commissioner reported that 15 to 20 roads were flooded at one time. |
| January 2007 | Flood | Tool | $20,000 | Heavy rain over the weekend caused a dam along a private pond to begin to crumble. Officials closed Highway 334 along the dam in case it was breached. The road was closed for about a day as crews worked to relieve pressure from the dam. |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $5,000 | Power lines were blown down at Seven Points. |
| April 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $5,000 | A barn was blown down, large trees were uprooted, and a house was damaged by high winds. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $2,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a carport. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | $2,000 | High thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a vacant building. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Tool | - | Broadcast media partner reported nickel sized hail in Tool. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Tool | - | Reported via mPing. |
| May 2022 | Flood | Tool | - | Amateur radio reported flooding on Forgotten Lane and Cheyenne Trail in the town of Tool, TX. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | - | Uprooted trees were reported in Gun Barrel City. |
| March 2019 | Hail | Tool | - | Tool PD reported nickel-size hail in the city of Tool, TX. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Tool | - | A resident called to report quarter sized hail. |
| December 2001 | Flash Flood | Tool | - | Seven county roads on the west side of Cedar Creek Lake are flooded. |
| May 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Tool | - | A tornado briefly touched down 4 miles west of Seven Points. No damage was reported. |
| November 1998 | Flash Flood | Tool | - | Very heavy thunderstorm rains caused 16 families to be evacuated due to flooding. |
| April 1995 | Hail | Tool | - | Trees were blown down in Tool. |
| April 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | - | Trees were blown down in Tool. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| April 2021 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| April 2017 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| April 2017 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tool | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| February 1996 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| February 1996 | Hail | Tool | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Tool | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enchanted Oaks | 3.2 miles | 14 | |
| Seven Points | 4.3 miles | 12 | |
| Gun Barrel City | 4.7 miles | 12 | |
| Payne Springs | 5.5 miles | 14 | |
| Buffalo | 5.8 miles | 9 | |
| Aley | 5.9 miles | 9 | |
| Harmony | 6.0 miles | 9 | |
| Pauline | 7.8 miles | 14 |
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 Tool | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q975949 | 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 1348643. 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.





