BlockBefore

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.

Tool within Henderson County

Population over time

3 figures

Tool 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.

YearPeople Change
20002,275
20102,240-35 (-2%)
20202,175-65 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

132 since 1998

Regional 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 burning52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined47
Equipment and vehicle use12
Arson/incendiarism7
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Smoking4
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Natural2
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
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSPILLWAY FIRE
4 September 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceMEADOW HEATH
4 September 1998Debris and open burning5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
3 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
26 September 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceDEL MAR - GRANADA FIRE
25 September 2012Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceMCFALL
25 September 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceBEDFORDS BEND
23 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSTATE OF TEXAS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Henderson County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Jomac Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Henderson County

Storms near this place

31 since 1995

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2007LightningTool1 hurtPerson struck by lightning in Seven Points.
March 1997Thunderstorm WindTool$3,000,000no account filed
March 1997Thunderstorm WindTool$400,000no account filed
June 2010Flash FloodTool$100,000Significant 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 2007FloodTool$20,000Heavy 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 1996Thunderstorm WindTool$20,000no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindTool$5,000Power lines were blown down at Seven Points.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindTool$5,000A barn was blown down, large trees were uprooted, and a house was damaged by high winds.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindTool$2,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a carport.
January 1999Thunderstorm WindTool$2,000High thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a vacant building.
June 2024HailTool-Broadcast media partner reported nickel sized hail in Tool.
June 2024HailTool-Reported via mPing.
May 2022FloodTool-Amateur radio reported flooding on Forgotten Lane and Cheyenne Trail in the town of Tool, TX.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindTool-Uprooted trees were reported in Gun Barrel City.
March 2019HailTool-Tool PD reported nickel-size hail in the city of Tool, TX.
April 2017HailTool-A resident called to report quarter sized hail.
December 2001Flash FloodTool-Seven county roads on the west side of Cedar Creek Lake are flooded.
May 1999Tornado (F0)Tool-A tornado briefly touched down 4 miles west of Seven Points. No damage was reported.
November 1998Flash FloodTool-Very heavy thunderstorm rains caused 16 families to be evacuated due to flooding.
April 1995HailTool-Trees were blown down in Tool.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindTool-Trees were blown down in Tool.
April 2021HailTool-no account filed
April 2021HailTool-no account filed
April 2017HailTool-no account filed
April 2017HailTool-no account filed
April 2011HailTool-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindTool-no account filed
March 1997HailTool-no account filed
February 1996HailTool-no account filed
February 1996HailTool-no account filed
April 1996HailTool-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Henderson 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
Enchanted Oaks3.2 miles14
Seven Points4.3 miles12
Gun Barrel City4.7 miles12
Payne Springs5.5 miles14
Buffalo5.8 miles9
Aley5.9 miles9
Harmony6.0 miles9
Pauline7.8 miles14

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 ToolAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q975949The 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.