BlockBefore

Bessie, Alabama

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Graysville-Adamsville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35073. It stands on Falls Creek. The Survey maps it on the Dora quadrangle.

Bessie within Jefferson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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.

Fires near this place

329 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 329 fires within 5 miles of Bessie between 1994 and 2019, burning about 5,505 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 138 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/incendiarism138
Debris and open burning123
Missing data/not specified/undetermined40
Recreation and ceremony9
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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
9 September 2016Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160909-12
8 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1997Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1998Arson/incendiarism21 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1998Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 1998Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Bessie: 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Aluminum, Clay. 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
Jef 2 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Waste Pond - Bessie MineAluminumOccurrenceIllite, Kaolinite
Waste Pond - Flat Top MineAluminumOccurrenceIllite, Kaolinite

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

1 since 2022

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bessie in 1 storm report in 2022: 1 tornado. 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
February 2022Tornado (EF1)Bessie-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Jefferson County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 100 mph. The tornado touched down just south of Interstate 22 just west of the Highway 78 exit. It tracked northeast crossing Highway 78 and Lynndale Road. Multiple soft and hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped, and several semi trucks were overturned on Interstate 22. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Lynns Crossing Road where it began to weaken and lift.

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Palos0.7 miles24
Bessie Junction0.9 miles24
Snowtown1.0 miles24
Flat Top1.2 miles24
Media1.5 miles24
Riverside Estates1.6 miles24
West Jefferson1.9 miles24
Kilgore2.1 miles24

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 156058. 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.