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Ashford, Alabama

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Dothan census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36312. The Survey maps it on the Ashford quadrangle. 2,246 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 246 feet above sea level.

Ashford within Houston County

On record in Ashford

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Ashford grew from 2,148 to 2,246 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
20102,148
20202,246+98 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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.

Photographs

2 photographs, 1939

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Cotton warehouse. Ashford, Alabama
Cotton warehouse. Ashford, Alabama
Wolcott, Marion Post, 1939. Library of Congress
Cotton warehouse. Ashford, Alabama
Cotton warehouse. Ashford, Alabama
Wolcott, Marion Post, 1939. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

61 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Ashford between 1994 and 2020, burning about 387 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 5 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 burning32
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Equipment and vehicle use5
Arson/incendiarism5
Recreation and ceremony3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking2
Fireworks1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Natural1

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
7 September 2005Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2011Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission461 ANTIOCH CHURCH RD, AL
2 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission55 COUNTY ROAD 963, AL
12 September 2000Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 August 2007Debris and open burning1.1 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 August 2017Debris and open burning1.2 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20170824-2
2 August 2007Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Houston County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Ashford: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Aluminum. 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
Harbison-Walker Refractories PitAluminumPast Producer

Every working recorded in Houston County

Storms near this place

38 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ashford in 38 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 23 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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
May 2022Thunderstorm WindAshford$25,000Multiple trees and power lines were blown down on the east side of Dothan near Ashford and Columbia. The roof was blown off one business near the Farmers Coop of Ashford.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindAshford$20,000WTVY-TV submitted a picture of a piece of wood embedded in the roof of a structure in the Ashford area with other debris scattered around the area. Monetary damage was estimated.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindAshford$15,000Several trees and power lines were knocked down. A storage shed was destroyed. A large tree split and fell on a house. Reported by the Houston County EMA.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindAshford$10,000Roof damage was reported in Ashford.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindAshford$5,000A gas station awning was damaged in Ashford.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindAshford$5,000Pea-size hail covered the ground, and wind downed trees and power lines in the area between Ashford and Cottonwood according to emergency management.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindAshford$3,000Trees and power lines were blown down around Ashford as reported by the public via social media.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindAshford$3,000A few trees were blown down around Ashford. Monetary damage was estimated.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindAshford$2,000A tree was blown down onto a power line in Ashford.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindAshford$1,000Power lines were blown down around Ashford.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindAshford$1,000Downed trees reported by Houston County EMA.
November 2011Thunderstorm WindAshford$750A tree was blown down at 102 5th Avenue in Ashford. Monetary damage was estimated.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindAshford$500The Houston County Sheriff reported a few downed trees over County Road 33.
February 2024Flash FloodAshford-Flooding was reported at the Lions Club along US-84 East. The water was up to 1 foot deep on portions of the property.
March 2024Flash FloodAshford-Strong Road was closed due to flooding.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree was blown down in Ashford.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindAshford-Large trees were blown down in the Ashford area.
March 2022Flash FloodAshford-Homes were flooded on Academy Drive in Ashford according to a Twitter post.
November 2022Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree blew down in Ashford.
April 2021Thunderstorm WindAshford-Power lines were blown down in Ashford.
April 2021Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree was blown down near Ashford.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindAshford-Multiple trees were blown down around Ashford.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree was blown down in Ashford.
January 2017Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree was blown down in Ashford.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindAshford-A tree was blown down at Oak Street and 7th Ave.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindAshford-A couple of trees were blown down in Ashford.
February 2013Flash FloodAshford-WDHN-TV reported that water affected homes near Ashford.
March 2005Funnel CloudAshford-A funnel cloud reported by the Houston County Sheriff.
July 2004HailAshford-Golfball size hail reported by a SKYWARN storm spotter.
July 2004HailAshford-Penny size hail reported by the Houston County EMA.
July 2002HailAshford-Dime size hail reported by NWS Mobile.
March 2000HailAshford-Dime to quarter size hail. Reported by the Houston County EMA.
August 2000HailAshford-Dime size hail at the intersection of County Roads 55 and 22. Reported by the Houston County EMA.
May 1999HailAshford-Dime size hail reported by Houston County EMA.
April 1998HailAshford-Golfball sized hail reported by Houston County EMA.
May 1998Tornado (F0)Ashford-Tornado spotted by public three miles east of Ashford.
June 1997HailAshford-County EMA reported dime sized hail.
July 1995HailAshford-Pea-size hail covered the ground, and wind downed trees and power lines in the area between Ashford and Cottonwood according to emergency management.

Every storm recorded in Houston 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
Avon2.7 miles9
Enon3.1 miles9
Barber3.5 miles7
Dupree3.8 miles7
Pansey3.8 miles7
Cowarts3.8 miles9
Seminole Heights4.1 miles7
North Cowarts4.2 miles9

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 AshfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66528The 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 113251. 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.