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.
Population over time
2 figuresAltoona 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 933 | |
| 2020 | 948 | +15 (+2%) |
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 Altoona quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Altoona quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Guntersville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
93 since 1995Regional 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 burning | 35 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160906-7 |
| 4 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 8.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160925-2 |
| 23 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160923-4 |
| 23 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 20 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 1535 STARNES CHAPEL RD, AL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 34 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Mine | Manganese, Cobalt | Past Producer | Psilomelane, Pyrolusite, Wad | |
| No 1 Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| No Name Given | Nickel, Cobalt | Occurrence | ||
| Bynum Mine | Manganese | Past Producer | 1876 | |
| Bynum-Mccright Deposit | Manganese | Past Producer | 1917 | |
| Collier-Edge Deposit | Manganese | Past Producer | 1942 | |
| Greasy Cove Mines | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Greasy Cove Mines | Iron | Prospect | BEDDED | |
| Iron Prospect 5 | Iron | Prospect | ||
| J.B.Bynum | Manganese | Past Producer | 1924 |
Storms near this place
17 since 1995Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2001 | Tornado (F4) | Altoona | $1,500,000 | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $5,000 | A 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 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $3,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down at several locations around the Altoona community. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down on CR-39, north of Altoona. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $2,000 | A few trees were blown down along Highway 61 between Greensboro and Newburn. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $2,000 | A few trees were blown down near Altoona. |
| December 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | $1,000 | Several trees were blown down. |
| November 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | Several trees and power lines were downed around the Altoona area. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | Several trees uprooted on Warrior Valley Road near Altoona, and numerous trees were uprooted along Cox Gap Road near Rockledge. |
| March 2021 | Flash Flood | Altoona | - | Various roads flooded and impassable in the cities of Gadsden, Altoona, Southside, Gallant, and Glencoe. |
| March 2019 | Tornado (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 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Altoona | - | A roof was blown off a barn and several trees uprooted along Robbins Road. |
| January 2012 | Heavy Rain | Altoona | - | Water was reported over several Roads in the Altoona and Walnut Grove areas due to heavy rainfall. |
| September 2011 | Flood | Altoona | - | 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 2011 | Flash Flood | Altoona | - | 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 2002 | Hail | Altoona | - | Penny size hail fell near Altoona. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Altoona | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pana | 1.9 miles | 22 | |
| Moodys Chapel | 2.1 miles | 21 | |
| Schuler (historical) | 2.1 miles | 22 | |
| Nix (historical) | 2.3 miles | 21 | |
| Walnut Grove | 2.9 miles | 22 | |
| Boxtel | 3.1 miles | 22 | |
| Phillips (historical) | 3.2 miles | 22 | |
| Nash (historical) | 3.8 miles | 21 |
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 Altoona | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q444149 | 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 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.











