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Altoona, Alabama

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Altoona census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35952. It stands on Altoona Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Altoona quadrangle. 948 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 955 feet above sea level.

Altoona within Etowah County

Population over time

2 figures

Altoona grew from 933 to 948 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
2010933
2020948+15 (+2%)

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

93 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 93 fires within 5 miles of Altoona between 1995 and 2017, burning about 898 acres in total. None started naturally. 33 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
Debris and open burning35
Arson/incendiarism33
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Equipment and vehicle use7
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony1

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 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2016Debris and open burning15 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160906-7
4 September 1998Arson/incendiarism8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160925-2
23 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160923-4
23 September 2010Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2003Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission1535 STARNES CHAPEL RD, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Etowah County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 34 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 34 workings within 5 miles of Altoona: 12 occurrences, 12 past producers, 6 prospects, 4 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt, Cobalt. 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
Cook MineManganese, CobaltPast ProducerPsilomelane, Pyrolusite, Wad
No 1 PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
No Name GivenNickel, CobaltOccurrence
Bynum MineManganesePast Producer1876
Bynum-Mccright DepositManganesePast Producer1917
Collier-Edge DepositManganesePast Producer1942
Greasy Cove MinesIronPast Producer
Greasy Cove MinesIronProspectBEDDED
Iron Prospect 5IronProspect
J.B.BynumManganesePast Producer1924

Every working recorded in Etowah County

Storms near this place

17 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Altoona in 17 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 hail, 2 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
November 2001Tornado (F4)Altoona$1,500,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindAltoona$5,000A 48-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning while working in a field baling hay. The man and his wife were baling hay when their work was interrupted by a thunderstorm. It was not completely clear whether the man killed was on a tractor at the time or just in the open field. Thunderstorm wind downed trees in the Altoona/Walnut Grove area of western Etowah County. (M48O)
June 2011Thunderstorm WindAltoona$3,000Trees and power lines were blown down at several locations around the Altoona community.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindAltoona$3,000Several trees were blown down on CR-39, north of Altoona.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindAltoona$2,000A few trees were blown down along Highway 61 between Greensboro and Newburn.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindAltoona$2,000A few trees were blown down near Altoona.
December 2008Thunderstorm WindAltoona$1,000Several trees were blown down.
November 2025Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Several trees and power lines were downed around the Altoona area.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindAltoona-Several trees uprooted on Warrior Valley Road near Altoona, and numerous trees were uprooted along Cox Gap Road near Rockledge.
March 2021Flash FloodAltoona-Various roads flooded and impassable in the cities of Gadsden, Altoona, Southside, Gallant, and Glencoe.
March 2019Tornado (EF0)Altoona-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in Etowah County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph.||This tornado is a continuation of a track from Blount County. Most of the damage throughout Etowah County was non-contiguous and primarily affected trees and vegetation. However, minor roof and structural damage was observed along Mountain View Church Road and Mountain Ridge Road. The tornado crossed into St. Clair County just east of Cliff Springs Road.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindAltoona-A roof was blown off a barn and several trees uprooted along Robbins Road.
January 2012Heavy RainAltoona-Water was reported over several Roads in the Altoona and Walnut Grove areas due to heavy rainfall.
September 2011FloodAltoona-Due to heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, portions of Dee Nix Rd and Buzzard Rock Rd, south of Altoona flooded and remained closed through Wednesday morning, September 7.
September 2011Flash FloodAltoona-Due to heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, portions of Dee Nix Rd and Buzzard Rock Rd, south of Altoona, flooded.
April 2002HailAltoona-Penny size hail fell near Altoona.
March 2012HailAltoona-no account filed

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
Pana1.9 miles22
Moodys Chapel2.1 miles21
Schuler (historical)2.1 miles22
Nix (historical)2.3 miles21
Walnut Grove2.9 miles22
Boxtel3.1 miles22
Phillips (historical)3.2 miles22
Nash (historical)3.8 miles21

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 AltoonaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q444149The 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 113054. 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.