Bell Factory, Alabama

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the New Market census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35811. It stands on Brier Fork Flint River. The Survey maps it on the Maysville quadrangle.

Bell Factory within Madison County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 24 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.

1888 USGS Scottsboro quadrangle1:125000
1892 USGS Scottsboro quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
1936 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:24000
1948 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
1951 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
1984 USGS Huntsville quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings

Fires near this place

61 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Bell Factory between 1997 and 2019, burning about 99 acres in total. None started naturally. 12 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	33
Arson/incendiarism	12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	8
Misuse of fire by a minor	3
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Smoking	2
Recreation and ceremony	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 1999	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
7 September 2001	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
27 September 2001	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
25 September 2006	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
22 September 2019	Arson/incendiarism	4.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	20190922-20
20 September 2000	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
19 September 1999	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
17 September 1999	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Madison County

Storms near this place

40 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bell Factory in 40 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 23 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 3 lightning, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
July 2012	Lightning	Bell Factory	1 killed	A 40 year old male was struck by lightning in the driveway of his residence near the intersection of Bell Factory Road and Red Rock Drive. The person was transported to the hospital and died five days later on the 20th. Exact time of the lightning strike is unknown.
April 2025	Lightning	Bell Factory	$100,000	Lightning struck a tree which fell over and sparked a house on fire on Maysville Road in New Market. The fire destroyed the home and all belongings. The homeowner, an 84 year old female, suffered a heart attack following the fire but recovered. The NCEI Severe Weather Data Inventory was used to corroborate the location and time of the lightning strike.
July 2010	Lightning	Bell Factory	$50,000	Madison county's deputy fire marshall attributed a huge fire at a residence on River Laurel Way to lightning activity.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$8,000	Several trees were reported down and uprooted near Winchester Road NE and the Flint River.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$8,000	Trees were blown down on Streakley road.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$8,000	Trees were blown down on Bell Factory Road.
December 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$5,000	Multiple trees were knocked down on Bell Factory Road.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$3,000	A severe thunderstorm produced 70 mph winds, which were reported at the intersection of Maysville and Bell Factory Road in northeast Huntsville. Multiple trees were blown down in this area.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$2,000	Power lines were knocked down on the roadway at 11172 Riverton Road.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$2,000	Power lines were knocked down at 889 Naugher Road.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$2,000	Power lines were knocked down across the roadway at Sawmill Road at Case Road.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$2,000	Power lines were knocked down at 2615 Winchester Road.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$1,000	A one foot diameter tree limb was blown down onto the road near the intersection of Homer Nance Road and Clearvue Roads.
March 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$1,000	A tree was down onto the south bound lanes of Homestead Road at Plainview Circle.
March 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$1,000	A fence was damaged in the Mt. Carmel community. Time estimated by radar.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$500	A tree was knocked down onto a fence in the Bellglade subdivision. Report was relayed via social media.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$500	A tree was knocked down onto a power line at Southern Oaks at Linda in Moores Mill.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$500	A tree was knocked down onto a house at the intersection of Winchester and Shields Road.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$200	A tree was knocked down onto power lines.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$200	Tree limbs were knocked down along Homer Nance Road.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	$200	A tree was knocked down onto power lines.
April 2021	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Hail up to 0.75 inches in diameter was reported via mPING.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	-	Trees were knocked down. Time estimated by radar.
March 2019	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Hail up to the size of nickels accumulated southeast of Moores Mill.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	-	Wind gusts estimated between 60 to 65 MPH from thunderstorms.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	-	Thunderstorm wind produced damage at Riverton Intermediate School. A roof was blown off of a softball dugout along with around 20 masonry rocks. Metal fascia of around 200 feet was torn off at two locations at the school.
June 2016	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Quarter sized hail was reported.
June 2016	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Half dollar sized hail was reported in the Mount Carmel area.
June 2016	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Nickel to quarter sized hail was reported on Sugar Plum Road.
February 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	-	Several roof shingles were torn off by thunderstorm winds.
March 2011	Flash Flood	Bell Factory	-	Flash flooding was occurring at the intersection of Homer Nance Road near Jordan Road.
June 2011	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Quarter size hail was reported.
April 2009	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Hail up to golf ball size hail was reported.
April 2009	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Golf ball size hail was reported 3 miles south of the Buckhorn community.
May 2009	Funnel Cloud	Bell Factory	-	A funnel cloud was reported at Bell Factory Road in the Maysville area.
February 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Bell Factory	-	Trees were blown down in the Mount Carmel community along Naugher Road.
June 2008	Flash Flood	Bell Factory	-	Several severe thunderstorms during the afternoon hours caused flash flooding along the Barry Springs Creek at the intersection of Maysville Road and Bell Factory Road in northeast Huntsville. Ten inches of water was reported over the road in this location.
June 2008	Heavy Rain	Bell Factory	-	A CoCoRaHS Observer reported rainfall of 1.88 inches in 30 minutes.
June 2008	Hail	Bell Factory	-	A severe thunderstorm produced penny size hail, which was reported to last 4 minutes by a CoCoRaHS observer.
August 2008	Hail	Bell Factory	-	Penny size hail was reported at the intersection of Maysville road and Bell Factory road.

Every storm recorded in Madison 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Three Forks	0.4 miles	24
McCaleb Mill	0.6 miles	24
The Woodlands	1.7 miles	24
Blue Spring Garden	1.9 miles	24
Mount Carmel	2.1 miles	24
Deposit	2.1 miles	24
Pleasant Acres	2.6 miles	24
Moores Mill	2.7 miles	24

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.

Wikidata item Q122599041

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 113859. 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.