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Alabama City, Alabama

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gadsden census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35904. It sits by The Brow. The Survey maps it on the Gadsden West quadrangle.

Alabama City within Etowah County

On record in Alabama City

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 within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 22 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

98 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 98 fires within 5 miles of Alabama City between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,577 acres in total. None started naturally. 55 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
Arson/incendiarism55
Debris and open burning26
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Recreation and ceremony5
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
8 September 1995Debris and open burning6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 1997Recreation and ceremony25 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 1999Arson/incendiarism8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 2000Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
11 September 2002Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 August 2010Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Etowah County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 24 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Alabama City: 11 past producers, 8 occurrences, 2 producers, 2 prospects. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Kaolin, Aluminum, Sulfur. 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
Republic Steel Corp. PlantSulfurPast Producer
Anniston, Fort Payne, Ashville, Ala.Kaolin, AluminumOccurrenceBauxite, Kaolin
Carroll QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerChert
Ne Alabama Bauxite-KaolinKaolin, AluminumOccurrenceBauxite
Osborn Pit Number 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerUnconsolidated Sediments
Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 1IronOccurrence
Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 2IronOccurrence
Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 3IronOccurrence
Daisy MineIronPast Producer
Etowah Iron Ore Prospect N0 2IronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Etowah County

Storms near this place

5 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alabama City in 5 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flash 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
May 2011Thunderstorm WindAlabama City1 hurt, $5,000Numerous trees were blown down around the city of Gadsden. On Pearl Street, a person was injured by a branch when a large tree fell.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindAlabama City-A tree fell on a house in Attalla.
May 2023Flash FloodAlabama City-Several streets in Gadsden covered in swift moving water and one vehicle flooded.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindAlabama City-Roof blown off building business in downtown Gadsden along with numerous trees uprooted in the city limits.
April 2020Tornado (EF2)Alabama City-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Etowah County, near Attalla, and determined that it was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum winds near 115 mph.||A tornado touched down near Oak Hill Cemetery on the north side of Attalla along Highway 11. Here, several large trees were uprooted. The tornado tracked northeast almost paralleling Highway 11. Many homes suffered extensive structural damage due to toppled trees. Numerous power poles were also snapped along its track from Attalla to Reece City. The tornado widened and strengthened as it moved into Reece City with a wide swath of hardwood trees snapped and uprooted along both sides of Highway 11 near Bethany Baptist Church and Clifford Drive. Here the tornado reached its maximum intensity of 115 mph. The tornado maintained intensity as it crossed Highway 211 and with damage as far east as Interstate 59 and Highway 11. A barn was also significantly damaged at this location. The tornado finally began to weaken as it tracked northeast with sporadic snapped and uprooted trees noted for the next couple of miles. The tornado lifted just south of Wallace Drive.

Every storm recorded in Etowah 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
Walnut Park0.9 miles22
Pull Tight (historical)1.4 miles22
South Gadsden1.4 miles22
Bellevue1.5 miles22
Black Creek Falls (historical)1.7 miles22
Bennettsville (historical)1.8 miles22
Gadsden2.1 miles22
Attalla2.3 miles22

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 112955. 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.