Broomtown, Alabama
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cedar Bluff-Gaylesville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35973. It stands on Culstigh Creek. The Survey maps it on the Gaylesville quadrangle. 160 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 682 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresBroomtown fell from 182 to 160 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 | 182 | |
| 2020 | 160 | -22 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 20 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 Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1955 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Gaylesville quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Rome quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
472 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 472 fires within 5 miles of Broomtown between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,454 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 337 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 | 337 |
| Debris and open burning | 84 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| 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 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160909-15 |
| 8 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 26 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.3 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 90 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1999 | 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
10 of 19 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Broomtown: 10 occurrences, 8 past producers, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Clay, Manganese. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Che 6 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Wilder Manganese Prospect | Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| J A Pilgrim Iron Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Rilgrim Land Area | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Unknown, Mills Creek Area | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Unnamed Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
9 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Broomtown in 9 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Broomtown | - | Trees were downed blocking County Roads 41 and 99 northeast of Broomtown. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Broomtown | - | Several trees and power lines were downed in the Broomtown area. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Broomtown | - | Several trees uprooted between County Roads 46 and 99. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Broomtown | - | Quarter size hall reported in the town of Broomtown. |
| September 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Broomtown | - | Mobile home damaged and power lines downed near the town of Broomtown. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Broomtown | - | Numerous trees uprooted in the community of Broomtown. |
| February 2009 | Hail | Broomtown | - | Nickel sized hail was reported in the Broomtown community. |
| March 2003 | Hail | Broomtown | - | Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Broomtown. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Broomtown | - | 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.
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 Broomtown | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1262198 | 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 114973. 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.








