Wells Branch, Texas
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Austin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78728. It lies near Martin Hill. The Survey maps it on the Pflugerville West quadrangle. 14,000 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 820 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresWells Branch grew from 11,271 to 14,000 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 | 11,271 | |
| 2010 | 12,120 | +849 (+8%) |
| 2020 | 14,000 | +1,880 (+16%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 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.
- 1896 USGS Austin quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Austin quadrangle1:125000
- 1910 USGS Austin quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Austin quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Austin quadrangle1:62500
- 1968 USGS Pflugerville West quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Austin quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1987 USGS Pflugerville West quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
101 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of Wells Branch between 2005 and 2016, burning about 1,178 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 61 |
| Smoking | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 3 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 29 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 9 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 3300 BLOCK SH 130 |
| 4 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | SH 130 AT FM 971 |
| 31 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 1498 N IH 35 |
| 28 August 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MCNEIL COMMAND |
| 25 August 2011 | Smoking | 25 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | BRATTON FIRE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Wells Branch: 5 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Calcium, Limestone, General, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dedear Quarry | Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | Limestone | |
| Texas Ind Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Quarry | Limestone, General | Producer | Limestone | |
| Dedear Quarry | Calcium | Producer | ||
| Mc Neil Plant & Quarry | Calcium | Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings Village | 0.9 miles | 17 | |
| Three Points | 1.0 miles | 17 | |
| Merrelltown | 1.0 miles | 17 | |
| Idyle Hour Acres | 1.4 miles | 17 | |
| Windemere | 1.8 miles | 17 | |
| McNeil | 2.2 miles | 17 | |
| Ward Spring | 2.2 miles | 17 | |
| Waters Park | 2.4 miles | 17 |
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 Wells Branch | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q970040 | 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 1867571. 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.







