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Attalla, 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 35954. It lies near Little Wills Valley. The Survey maps it on the Gadsden West quadrangle. 5,827 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 545 feet above sea level.

Attalla within Etowah County

On record in Attalla

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Attalla fell from 6,048 to 5,827 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
20106,048
20205,827-221 (-4%)

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

125 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Attalla between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,191 acres in total. None started naturally. 72 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/incendiarism72
Debris and open burning40
Recreation and ceremony5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1

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
7 September 2019Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190907-7
7 September 2016Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160907-9
5 September 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 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 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Attalla: 7 past producers, 5 occurrences, 3 producers, 2 prospects. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Carroll QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerChert
Osborn Pit No 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
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
Gadsen Area MinesIronPast ProducerHematite
Greasy Cove Area ProspectIronOccurrence
Hanna Steel/ Gadsden, Ala.IronPast Producer

Every working recorded in Etowah County

Storms near this place

18 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Attalla in 18 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 heavy rain. 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
August 1996Thunderstorm WindAttalla$55,000no account filed
April 2010Thunderstorm WindAttalla$20,000Numerous trees were blown down in a swath from Attalla to the north side of Gadsden. Some trees were blown down and blocked a portion of Interstate 59, north of exit 183, and both lanes of the highway had to be closed for a short time to clear them.
May 2003HailAttalla$12,000Hail up to half dollar size was observed in and around the city of Gadsden.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindAttalla$10,000Numerous trees and powerlines were knocked down in and around the city of Attalla.
October 2009Thunderstorm WindAttalla$10,000Several trees and power lines were blown down in the city of Attalla, with one tree falling onto and damaging a house.
August 1996HailAttalla$10,000no account filed
November 2000Heavy RainAttalla$5,000A large landslide, consisting of mud and rock, slid off Sand Mountain and blocked almost all four lanes of US 431 just north of Attalla. Newspaper reports indicated the Sand Mountain Experimental Station received up to 6 inches of rainfall in the previous five days, 3 to 4 inches during the past 24 hours. No injuries were reported.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindAttalla$4,000Trees and power lines were blown down at several locations in the city of Attalla, including the intersection of US-278 and US-431, Gallant Road, California Street and South 11th Street.
July 2005Flash FloodAttalla$4,000All four lanes of US 431 were closed due to flooding.
July 2002HailAttalla$3,000Quarter to golf ball size hail was observed in and around Attalla.
February 2025Thunderstorm WindAttalla-Trees and power lines were downed along Scenic Dr.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindAttalla-Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed between Rainbow City and Attalla.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindAttalla-Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed in the town of Attalla, causing some structural damage.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindAttalla-Dozens of trees were reported down in the downtown area of Attalla. In addition to the trees, several businesses and homes suffered damage; including significant wall and roof damage to several buildings.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindAttalla-Trees were blown down at US 431 near Kelly's Auto Auction just north of Attalla.
March 2017HailAttalla-no account filed
March 2015HailAttalla-no account filed
January 1997Funnel CloudAttalla-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
Happy Hollow0.7 miles22
Stowers Hill1.1 miles22
Moragne1.3 miles22
Bennettsville (historical)1.5 miles22
Rhea (historical)1.6 miles22
Walnut Park1.6 miles22
Lewin (historical)1.8 miles22
Norton1.9 miles22

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 AttallaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79268The 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 157880. 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.