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.
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
Attalla Downtown Historic Districtlisted 2013
U.S. Post Officelisted 1983
Population over time
2 figuresAttalla 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,048 | |
| 2020 | 5,827 | -221 (-4%) |
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
125 since 1994Regional 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/incendiarism | 72 |
| Debris and open burning | 40 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
| 7 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190907-7 |
| 7 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160907-9 |
| 5 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Steel Corp. Plant | Sulfur | Past Producer | ||
| Carroll Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Chert | |
| Osborn Pit No 1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| 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 | ||
| Gadsen Area Mines | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Greasy Cove Area Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Hanna Steel/ Gadsden, Ala. | Iron | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | $55,000 | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | $20,000 | Numerous 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 2003 | Hail | Attalla | $12,000 | Hail up to half dollar size was observed in and around the city of Gadsden. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | $10,000 | Numerous trees and powerlines were knocked down in and around the city of Attalla. |
| October 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | $10,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down in the city of Attalla, with one tree falling onto and damaging a house. |
| August 1996 | Hail | Attalla | $10,000 | no account filed |
| November 2000 | Heavy Rain | Attalla | $5,000 | A 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 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | $4,000 | Trees 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 2005 | Flash Flood | Attalla | $4,000 | All four lanes of US 431 were closed due to flooding. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Attalla | $3,000 | Quarter to golf ball size hail was observed in and around Attalla. |
| February 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | - | Trees and power lines were downed along Scenic Dr. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | - | Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed between Rainbow City and Attalla. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | - | Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed in the town of Attalla, causing some structural damage. |
| March 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | - | 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 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Attalla | - | Trees were blown down at US 431 near Kelly's Auto Auction just north of Attalla. |
| March 2017 | Hail | Attalla | - | no account filed |
| March 2015 | Hail | Attalla | - | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Funnel Cloud | Attalla | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Hollow | 0.7 miles | 22 | |
| Stowers Hill | 1.1 miles | 22 | |
| Moragne | 1.3 miles | 22 | |
| Bennettsville (historical) | 1.5 miles | 22 | |
| Rhea (historical) | 1.6 miles | 22 | |
| Walnut Park | 1.6 miles | 22 | |
| Lewin (historical) | 1.8 miles | 22 | |
| Norton | 1.9 miles | 22 |
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 Attalla | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q79268 | 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 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.











