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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.

Broomtown within Cherokee County

Population over time

2 figures

Broomtown 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.

YearPeople Change
2010182
2020160-22 (-12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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

472 since 1992

Regional 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/incendiarism337
Debris and open burning84
Missing data/not specified/undetermined36
Equipment and vehicle use7
Smoking2
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1

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 2016Debris and open burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160909-15
8 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1998Arson/incendiarism26 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1999Arson/incendiarism6.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1995Debris and open burning3.3 acresGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2007Debris and open burning90 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Che 6 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Wilder Manganese ProspectManganeseOccurrence
J A Pilgrim Iron MineIronPast Producer
Rilgrim Land AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
Unknown, Mills Creek AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

9 since 2003

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBroomtown-Trees were downed blocking County Roads 41 and 99 northeast of Broomtown.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBroomtown-Several trees and power lines were downed in the Broomtown area.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBroomtown-Several trees uprooted between County Roads 46 and 99.
April 2021HailBroomtown-Quarter size hall reported in the town of Broomtown.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindBroomtown-Mobile home damaged and power lines downed near the town of Broomtown.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindBroomtown-Numerous trees uprooted in the community of Broomtown.
February 2009HailBroomtown-Nickel sized hail was reported in the Broomtown community.
March 2003HailBroomtown-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported in Broomtown.
July 2008HailBroomtown-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Rhinehart1.8 miles20
New Moon2.2 miles18
Ringgold2.3 miles20
Starkville (historical)2.5 miles17
Dewey2.5 miles20
Watson3.6 miles20
Grover3.6 miles18
Jamestown3.9 miles18

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 BroomtownAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1262198The 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.