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.
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
Varner-Hogg Plantationlisted 1980
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Varner-Hogg Plantation House, Varner Hogg State Park Museum, West Columbiafederal building survey, 3 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresWest 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,905 | |
| 2020 | 3,644 | -261 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 11 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.
- 1950 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000
- 1952 USGS West Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1975 USGS Houston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Angleton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
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.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
14 since 2008Regional 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 burning | 10 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GST. PAUL |
| 22 May 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 345 |
| 9 March 2009 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 517 |
| 3 March 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 344 |
| 17 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CR 353 |
| 17 March 2009 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HWY 36 |
| 13 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 22 acres | San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge | LIVE OAK FIRE |
| 15 February 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | FM 522 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pand W Materials Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Sand | |
| West Colombia Salt Dome | Halite, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | 1901 |
Storms near this place
11 since 1993Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | West Columbia | $1,250,000 | Heavy rainfall caused flooding of 40 to 45 homes and businesses in the town of West Columbia. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | $100,000 | There were roofs blown off of a business and carports. Trees were downed too. |
| September 2002 | Tornado (F0) | West Columbia | $25,000 | Tornado downed numerous trees in West Columbia along Hwy 36. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | $12,000 | Numerous trees, power lines, and storm signs down. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed six power lines along Highway 35. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | $5,000 | Trees blown down and cars blown into ditches along HWY 36. |
| May 1993 | Hail | West Columbia | $5,000 | Brazoria County Sheriff Department reported golf ball-size hail on Highway 36, 3 miles south of West Columbia. |
| April 1997 | Hail | West Columbia | $5,000 | no account filed |
| February 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | - | Mesonet station 060CE17 near Brazoria West Solar Farm Measured a 68 mph wind gust. |
| May 2025 | Hail | West Columbia | - | The local fire department reported quarter size hail at highway 35 and county road 5. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Columbia | - | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged power lines near the intersection of County Road 376 and FM 1301. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Columbia | 1.6 miles | 10 | |
| Wild Peach Village | 4.2 miles | 10 | |
| Wild Peach | 5.4 miles | 10 | |
| Old Ocean | 7.1 miles | 10 | |
| El Bernardo | 7.2 miles | 10 | |
| Bailey Prairie | 7.2 miles | 10 | |
| Old Brazoria | 7.4 miles | 10 | |
| Sweeny | 7.8 miles | 10 |
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 Columbia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q979926 | 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 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.




