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West Columbia, Texas

11 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 77486. The Survey maps it on the West Columbia quadrangle. 3,644 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 36 feet above sea level.

West Columbia within Brazoria County

On record in West Columbia

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 1 record

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

West Columbia fell from 3,905 to 3,644 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
20103,905
20203,644-261 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Varner-Hogg Plantation House, Varner Hogg State Park Museum, West Columbia, Brazoria County, TX
Varner-Hogg Plantation House, Varner Hogg State Park Museum, West Columbia, Brazoria County, TX
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

14 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of West Columbia between 2008 and 2020, burning about 76 acres in total. 1 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 burning10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Arson/incendiarism1
Natural1

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
28 September 2009Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGST. PAUL
22 May 2009Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 345
9 March 2009Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 517
3 March 2009Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 344
17 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR 353
17 March 2009Debris and open burning4.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHWY 36
13 March 2014Debris and open burning22 acresSan Bernard National Wildlife RefugeLIVE OAK FIRE
15 February 2009Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceFM 522

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Brazoria County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of West Columbia: 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Halite, Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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
Pand W Materials Co.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerSand
West Colombia Salt DomeHalite, Gypsum-AnhydriteOccurrence1901

Every working recorded in Brazoria County

Storms near this place

11 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Columbia in 11 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2010Flash FloodWest Columbia$1,250,000Heavy rainfall caused flooding of 40 to 45 homes and businesses in the town of West Columbia.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia$100,000There were roofs blown off of a business and carports. Trees were downed too.
September 2002Tornado (F0)West Columbia$25,000Tornado downed numerous trees in West Columbia along Hwy 36.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia$12,000Numerous trees, power lines, and storm signs down.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed six power lines along Highway 35.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia$5,000Trees blown down and cars blown into ditches along HWY 36.
May 1993HailWest Columbia$5,000Brazoria County Sheriff Department reported golf ball-size hail on Highway 36, 3 miles south of West Columbia.
April 1997HailWest Columbia$5,000no account filed
February 2026Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia-Mesonet station 060CE17 near Brazoria West Solar Farm Measured a 68 mph wind gust.
May 2025HailWest Columbia-The local fire department reported quarter size hail at highway 35 and county road 5.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindWest Columbia-Thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged power lines near the intersection of County Road 376 and FM 1301.

Every storm recorded in Brazoria 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
East Columbia1.6 miles10
Wild Peach Village4.2 miles10
Wild Peach5.4 miles10
Old Ocean7.1 miles10
El Bernardo7.2 miles10
Bailey Prairie7.2 miles10
Old Brazoria7.4 miles10
Sweeny7.8 miles10

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 West ColumbiaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q979926The 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 1371096. 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.