Branchville, Alabama
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Springville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35120. It lies near Stovall Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Odenville quadrangle. 993 people lived here at the 2007 count.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 19 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.
- 1889 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Odenville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1975 USGS Odenville quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
157 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 157 fires within 5 miles of Branchville between 1994 and 2020, burning about 2,049 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 42 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 | 71 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 42 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 265 GRAY FOX RD., AL |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | 59 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1998 | Smoking | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Branchville: 4 unknowns, 3 occurrences, 3 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Copper, Limestone, General. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odenville Copper Prospect | Copper, Limestone, General | Occurrence | 1925 | |
| Jump-Off Rock | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Odenville | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Prospect |
Storms near this place
7 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Branchville in 7 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 3 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 5 injuries. 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 2011 | Tornado (EF2) | Branchville | 5 hurt, $865,000 | A tornado developed along a Quasi-Linear Convective System. It touched down in central St Clair County, near Odenville. The tornado touched down in a field southwest of the intersection of AL Hwy 174 and Blair Farms Rd. As it moved northeast, it quickly strengthened to an EF2 rating with winds of 120 mph and caused significant damage to two multi-story brick homes, along AL Hwy 174. One house lost a large portion of its roof deck material. The well built detached garage of the other house was shifted off its foundation, with the intact roof landing and squashing the remaining structure. The tornado continued northeast and tracked parallel to US Hwy 411, before it lifted near the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Cedar Ln, where a few trees were blown down. |
| April 1994 | Tornado (F0) | Branchville | $500,000 | An off-duty police officer and two citizens saw a funnel cloud dip down and go back into the cloud at 1724 CST. The damaging winds associated with the tornado produced damage at the Pecan Grove Trailer Park off Highway 411 in Branchville. Twelve mobile homes and three houses were damaged and about 50 trees were uprooted or snapped off. |
| February 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Branchville | $5,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down. |
| April 2005 | Hail | Branchville | $1,000 | Nickel size hail was reported in the Branchville area. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Branchville | $1,000 | A few trees were blown down in and around the city of Branchville. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Branchville | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Branchville | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Havilah Hills Estates | 1.2 miles | 19 | |
| Odenville | 1.6 miles | 19 | |
| Crockertown | 2.1 miles | 19 | |
| Hardwick | 2.6 miles | 21 | |
| Copper Springs | 2.8 miles | 19 | |
| Green Acres Estates | 3.1 miles | 19 | |
| Hill Number 1 | 3.8 miles | 19 | |
| Margaret | 4.1 miles | 19 |
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 Branchville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67866 | 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 164576. 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.







