HomeSoil seriesPurves
Purves soil series
Purves soils cover 731,270 mapped acres, almost all of them in Texas. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 40% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 0%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 10 of the counties and cities on this site, including Bosque County, TX.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2018-08
of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements
of its land: a shallow water table limits basements
median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)
median highest clay content in the top 150 cm
USDA's description
The Purves series consists of shallow, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in interbedded limestone and marl. These soils are on gently sloping to steep upland divides with plane to convex surfaces. Slopes are mainly 1 to 5 percent, but range from 1 to 40 percent.
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Purves, revised 2018-08. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 731,270 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 40.4% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 0.0% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 90.5% |
| Most common drainage class | Well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | D |
| Taxonomic class | Clayey, smectitic, thermic Lithic Calciustolls |
| Type location | Erath County, Texas |
Where Purves is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Texas | 709,300 |
| Oklahoma | 21,970 |
Places where Purves leads
Counties and cities where Purves covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| Oglesby, TX | 51% |
| Dublin, TX | 41% |
| Bertram, TX | 30% |
| Salado, TX | 29% |
| Killeen, TX | 23% |
| Annetta South, TX | 21% |
| Edgecliff Village, TX | 21% |
| Gustine, TX | 20% |
| Bosque County, TX | 14% |
| Rhome, TX | 14% |
Other places where Purves is a main soil
Counties and cities where Purves is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Somervell County, TX 12%
- Gillespie County, TX 11%
- Burnet County, TX 11%
- Erath County, TX 10%
- Coleman County, TX 10%
- Comanche County, TX 8%
- Marshall County, OK 8%
- Bell County, TX 7%
- Blanco County, TX 5%
- Cooke County, TX 5%
- Tarrant County, TX 4%
Texas and Ohio cities
- McGregor, TX 22%
- Woodcreek, TX 20%
- Valley Mills, TX 15%
- Hudson Oaks, TX 14%
- Lakeside (Tarrant County), TX 14%
- Belton, TX 14%
- Haslet, TX 14%
- Harker Heights, TX 12%
- Nolanville, TX 12%
- Aledo, TX 10%
- Willow Park, TX 9%
- Blue Mound, TX 8%
- Johnson City, TX 8%
- Glen Rose, TX 8%
- Meridian, TX 8%
- Walnut Springs, TX 8%
- New Fairview, TX 7%
- Stephenville, TX 7%
- Morgan, TX 7%
- Temple, TX 6%
- Saginaw, TX 6%
- Cranfills Gap, TX 6%
- Wimberley, TX 6%
- Fort Worth, TX 5%
- White Settlement, TX 5%
- Bulverde, TX 5%
- Haltom City, TX 5%
- Bear Creek, TX 4%
- Clifton, TX 4%
- Morgan's Point Resort, TX 3%
- Lake Worth, TX 3%
- Sansom Park, TX 1%
Sources
Shares and properties: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access, weighted by each component's share of its map units. Description: the USDA NRCS series description. How we count.