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.
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.
Alabama City Librarylisted 1974 · 0.3 miles away
Alabama City Wall Street Historic Districtlisted 2002 · 0.8 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 22 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.
- 1885 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:125000
- 1888 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:125000
- 1903 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Gadsden West quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Guntersville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
98 since 1994Regional 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/incendiarism | 55 |
| Debris and open burning | 26 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 20 September 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 8.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 August 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 24 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Steel Corp. Plant | Sulfur | Past Producer | ||
| Anniston, Fort Payne, Ashville, Ala. | Kaolin, Aluminum | Occurrence | Bauxite, Kaolin | |
| Carroll Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Chert | |
| Ne Alabama Bauxite-Kaolin | Kaolin, Aluminum | Occurrence | Bauxite | |
| Osborn Pit Number 1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Unconsolidated Sediments | |
| Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 1 | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 2 | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Attalla Iron Ore Prospect No 3 | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Daisy Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Etowah Iron Ore Prospect N0 2 | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
5 since 2011Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alabama City | 1 hurt, $5,000 | Numerous 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 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alabama City | - | A tree fell on a house in Attalla. |
| May 2023 | Flash Flood | Alabama City | - | Several streets in Gadsden covered in swift moving water and one vehicle flooded. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alabama City | - | Roof blown off building business in downtown Gadsden along with numerous trees uprooted in the city limits. |
| April 2020 | Tornado (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. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Park | 0.9 miles | 22 | |
| Pull Tight (historical) | 1.4 miles | 22 | |
| South Gadsden | 1.4 miles | 22 | |
| Bellevue | 1.5 miles | 22 | |
| Black Creek Falls (historical) | 1.7 miles | 22 | |
| Bennettsville (historical) | 1.8 miles | 22 | |
| Gadsden | 2.1 miles | 22 | |
| Attalla | 2.3 miles | 22 |
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.











