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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 24 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.
- 1893 USGS Jasper quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1935 USGS Port Birmingham quadrangle1:48000
- 1938 USGS Port Birmingham quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Dora quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1975 USGS Dora quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Jasper quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
329 since 1994Regional 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/incendiarism | 138 |
| Debris and open burning | 123 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160909-12 |
| 8 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jef 2 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Waste Pond - Bessie Mine | Aluminum | Occurrence | Illite, Kaolinite | |
| Waste Pond - Flat Top Mine | Aluminum | Occurrence | Illite, Kaolinite |
Storms near this place
1 since 2022Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2022 | Tornado (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. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palos | 0.7 miles | 24 | |
| Bessie Junction | 0.9 miles | 24 | |
| Snowtown | 1.0 miles | 24 | |
| Flat Top | 1.2 miles | 24 | |
| Media | 1.5 miles | 24 | |
| Riverside Estates | 1.6 miles | 24 | |
| West Jefferson | 1.9 miles | 24 | |
| Kilgore | 2.1 miles | 24 |
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.








