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Bear Creek, Alabama

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Bear Creek census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35543. It stands on Austin Branch. The Survey maps it on the Phil Campbell quadrangle. 1,047 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 823 feet above sea level.

Bear Creek within Marion County

Population over time

2 figures

Bear Creek fell from 1,070 to 1,047 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
20101,070
20201,047-23 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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

139 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 139 fires within 5 miles of Bear Creek between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,372 acres in total. None started naturally. 62 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/incendiarism62
Missing data/not specified/undetermined40
Debris and open burning29
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
5 September 2000Arson/incendiarism12 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1999Arson/incendiarism15 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2010Other causes1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2010Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2000Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 1999Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Marion County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bear Creek: 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron. 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
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in Marion County

Storms near this place

30 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bear Creek in 30 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 16 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. 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
April 2011Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$50,000Numerous trees were blown down. Several roofs received damage from fallen trees.
March 2010HailBear Creek$10,000no account filed
March 1996HailBear Creek$10,000no account filed
January 1997HailBear Creek$8,000no account filed
December 2004Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$6,000Several trees were blown down near Bear Creek. A shed and a barn sustained minor damage along SR 19.
August 2003Flash FloodBear Creek$5,000Radar estimated three to four and half inches of rain across northeast Marion County in a three hour period. Several roads from Bear Creek to Goddard to Whitehouse were temporarily impassable due to high water.
April 1997HailBear Creek$5,000Dime to quarter size hail was reported between Bear Creek and Hackleburg, in the northern part of the county.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$3,000Trees and power lines were blown down along county road 367 and state highway 241.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$3,000no account filed
April 2009Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$2,000Several trees were blown down in and around the Bear Creek community.
January 2000Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$2,000Trees were blown down 4 miles east of Bear Creek on CR 79.
April 2006Tornado (F1)Bear Creek$2,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBear Creek$1,000Trees were blown down, blocking the intersection of Highway 241 and 172.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Trees were downed on County Highway 85.
February 2025Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Several trees were downed in the Bear Creek area.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Numerous trees were downed in the Bear Creek and Hackleburg areas, resulting in power outages.
April 2025HailBear Creek-Up to quarter-size hail was reported around the Bear Creek Reservoir. Nearby, Haleyville had nickel-size hail.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Several trees uprooted and power lines downed.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Several trees uprooted in the town of Bears Creek.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Powerlines were reported down along Virginia Avenue.
March 2013Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Trees and powerlines were reported down in Bear Creek.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-Trees were blown down in Bear Creek.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-A storm spotter estimated 60 mph winds near Bear Creek.
July 2006LightningBear Creek-Lightning struck Phillips High School.
August 2005HailBear Creek-Nickel size hail was reported in the Bear Creek community.
December 2005HailBear Creek-Nickel size hail was observed in the Bear Creek community.
March 2013HailBear Creek-no account filed
April 2007HailBear Creek-no account filed
April 2006Funnel CloudBear Creek-no account filed
July 2006HailBear Creek-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Marion 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
Allens Factory1.1 miles14
Goddard2.0 miles12
Lumbull2.2 miles14
Tessner4.9 miles14
Fairview5.0 miles14
South Haleyville5.6 miles12
Hackleburg6.8 miles14
Thornhill8.3 miles12

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 Bear CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66397The 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 154439. 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.