BlockBlack, Alabama
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Hartford census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36314. The Survey maps it on the Hartford quadrangle. 221 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 226 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBlack grew from 207 to 221 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 207 | |
| 2020 | 221 | +14 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1942 USGS Enterprise quadrangle1:125000
- 1953 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:62500
- 1981 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
94 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 94 fires within 5 miles of Black between 1992 and 2019, burning about 686 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 15 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 | 31 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 15 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 2 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 18 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | ESKER MARTIN RD (30) |
| 13 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 12 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190912-7 |
| 12 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 23 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 August 1992 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
19 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Black in 19 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 tornado, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Black | $150,000 | An EF0 tornado touched down near County Road 4 and moved across County Road 55. Several homes were damaged along its short path. |
| May 2014 | Tornado (EF1) | Black | $85,000 | Damage began just west of Geneva County Highway 9 near the intersection with Thelma Road. The beginning of the damage path appeared to be about 250 yards west of Highway 9 where some light tree damage was noted. More substantial tree damage was noted closer to Highway 9 and along Thelma Road, with numerous snapped or uprooted trees. In addition there was damage to two houses. One had some minor damage to some of the siding and gutters. The other had uplift of some sections of the roof from both the house and a nearby shed. Damage at this location was consistent with estimated peak 3-second wind gusts of around 100 mph based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Some sporadic tree damage was noted to the northeast of Thelma Road near some farm fields, and it seems likely that the tornado was then in occasional contact with the ground for a little over a mile with only some light tree damage noted. A small corridor of more significant damage was noted again just west of Price Road and about 0.3 miles north of Geneva County Highway 4. At that location, a metal building structure being used as a barn was destroyed. The metal beams that supported the structure were embedded at the corners of the building in about a foot of concrete in the ground. These beams and the associated concrete were pulled out of the ground. Nearby damage consisted of some sporadic instances of trees and poles being snapped, as well as a small shed being destroyed. Given the likelihood that the wind entered the larger metal structure relatively unimpeded, and a lack of more significant nearby damage, it`s likely that this structure failed at a slightly lower wind speed with estimated peak 3-second wind gusts of around 105 mph. The last damage was noted in a patch of trees just northeast of the metal structure that was destroyed. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $25,000 | A shed was blown over and a small chicken coop's roof was blown off. |
| March 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $10,000 | Several trees were toppled along County Road 4 near the cemetary, as well as on Spring Creek and High Note Roads. A home on Burnt Street sustained roof damage. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $4,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were down near the community of Black, including near Old Esto Road and W V Armstrong Road. |
| February 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $2,000 | Power lines were blown down along Burnt Street. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $2,000 | A power line was blown down near Black. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $1,000 | Trees were blown down on County Road 9. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | $500 | A tree was blown over and blocked County Road 61. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate. |
| February 2024 | Flash Flood | Black | - | Old Esto Road was flooded. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | - | Numerous trees were blown down in Black. |
| September 2024 | Flash Flood | Black | - | One road was washed out and a few others were temporarily impassible in Geneva county due to flash flooding. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | - | Trees were blown down along E County Road 4. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | - | A tree was blown down in Black. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | - | Two trees were blown down in Black. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Black | - | Settlement Road was closed due to flooding at the wooden bridge. A local creek intersects this area and likely overflowed due to a long duration of moderate to heavy rainfall. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Black | - | The intersection of South County Road 61 and County Road 6 was flooded and closed. A local creek intersects this area and likely overflowed due to a long duration of moderate to heavy rainfall. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Black | - | Trees were blown down in the Black area. |
| April 2014 | Flash Flood | Black | - | Austin Road near County Road 6 near the community of Black flooded due to heavy rain in a short period of time. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thurston | 2.0 miles | 12 | |
| Millville (historical) | 2.2 miles | 11 | |
| Vanlandingham Mill | 2.5 miles | 12 | |
| Highnote | 2.9 miles | 14 | |
| Kellys Crossroads | 4.2 miles | 12 | |
| Oak Grove | 5.6 miles | 12 | |
| Warwick (historical) | 5.9 miles | 11 | |
| Geneva | 6.5 miles | 12 |
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 Black | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q66825 | 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 114392. 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.