Basham, Alabama
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Decatur census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35640. It lies near Chestnut Grove Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Trinity quadrangle. It stands 745 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1936 USGS Trinity quadrangle1:24000
- 1950 USGS Trinity quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Trinity quadrangle1:24000
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Trinity quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
56 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 56 fires within 5 miles of Basham between 1994 and 2020, burning about 481 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 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 | 21 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20170808-1 |
| 28 August 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20180828-3 |
| 26 August 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 August 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 August 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 July 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | NOR-20120705-002 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
20 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Basham in 20 storm reports between 2005 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 lightning, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2006 | Lightning | Basham | $200,000 | Lightning sparked a fire destroying a double-wide hilltop home on Mud Tavern Road. A pet dog perished in the fire. Time estimated by radar. Damage amount estimated. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $10,000 | A tree was blown down on a house. |
| December 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $5,000 | Trees were knocked down at this location. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $2,000 | Trees and limbs were knocked down. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $2,000 | A tree was blown down on Mud Tavern Road. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $2,000 | A tree was blown down near Mud Tavern on Kirby Bridge road. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down at George Russell Road. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | A tree was reported down across the roadway at this location. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | Several trees that were 6 to 12 inches in diameter were knocked down or have limbs broken off. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | Multiple trees were knocked down between Decatur and Basham. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | Trees were knocked down on Herring Road. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | A tree was blown down on Asphalt Rock Road. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $1,000 | Winds damaged a portion of the roof of a home on Mud Tavern Road in Decatur. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $500 | Power lines were knocked down on Chapel Hill Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | $200 | A tree was knocked down near Old Moulton Road and Pleasant Hill Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Basham | - | One and one quarter of an inch diameter hail was reported by an observer from the MPING network. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Basham | - | Three quarter inch hail was reported by an observer from the MPING network at this location. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Basham | - | Mud Tavern Road flooding over the road West of Chapel Hill Road. Water depth unknown. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Basham | - | Quarter sized hail was reported. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Basham | - | Trees and some powerlines were downed by a large downburst, which produced a 3/4 mile damage swath. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longleaf Estates | 2.4 miles | 25 | |
| Flint City | 2.6 miles | 25 | |
| Oak Ridge | 2.8 miles | 19 | |
| Russell Village | 3.6 miles | 25 | |
| Cedar Lake | 3.6 miles | 25 | |
| Bayside | 3.9 miles | 25 | |
| Neel | 4.1 miles | 17 | |
| Austinville | 4.2 miles | 15 |
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 Basham | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4866768 | 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 156031. 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.
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.








