Chatom, Alabama
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Chatom census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36518. It stands on Beaver Dam Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chatom quadrangle. 1,104 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 210 feet above sea level.
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Population over time
3 figuresChatom fell from 1,193 to 1,104 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,193 | |
| 2010 | 1,288 | +95 (+8%) |
| 2020 | 1,104 | -184 (-14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 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.
- 1953 USGS Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1974 USGS Chatom quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Citronelle quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
105 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 105 fires within 5 miles of Chatom between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,838 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 28 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 | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 28 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 1 September 1995 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 August 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20180809-1 |
| 28 August 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190828-1 |
| 27 August 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 80 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 July 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Chatom: 1 producer, 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatom Plant | Sulfur | Plant | ||
| County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
32 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chatom in 32 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 18 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 5 lightning. 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 2003 | Hail | Chatom | $1,400,000 | Golfball to Tennis Ball sized hail fell between Chatom and Wagarville. Numerous automobiles and roofs were damaged by the large hail. Two automobile dealerships in Chatom sustained major damage to their automobile inventory. |
| December 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $80,000 | High winds from a thunderstorm caused roof damage to a couple of businesses in Chatom. The most significant damage occurred at an automobile dealership. Part of the roof at the dealership was peeled off and some of the debris damaged several new vehicles that were parked outside. The high winds also blew down a couple of trees and power lines. |
| February 2004 | Lightning | Chatom | $50,000 | Lightning struck a manufactured home and started a fire. The home burned down before the fire could be put out. No one was injured. |
| December 1996 | Lightning | Chatom | $50,000 | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Lightning | Chatom | $30,000 | no account filed |
| January 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $12,000 | no account filed |
| December 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $12,000 | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $10,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down near Chatom as a line of thunderstorms moved through the area. |
| January 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $10,000 | High thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines in the community. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $10,000 | High winds blew several trees down from north of Chatom to north of Wagarville. |
| February 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $10,000 | no account filed |
| February 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $5,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed power lines along Frank Scruggs Road. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $5,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph blew a tree limb into a trailer on Highway 56. Numerous power outages were also reported in the area. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $5,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down in and around Chatom as a thunderstorm moved through the county. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $5,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down in Chatom. |
| May 1997 | Lightning | Chatom | $5,000 | Lightning struck a house in Chatom and caused it to catch on fire. |
| November 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $2,500 | Trees and power lines were blown down just west of Chatom. |
| November 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $2,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down west of Chatom. |
| April 1997 | Lightning | Chatom | $1,000 | Lightning struck near the courthouse in Chatom. Several radios and computers in the courthouse suffered damage as a result of the strike. |
| April 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $1,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down in the Chatom area. |
| April 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | $500 | Several trees were blown down along Highway 45, five miles southwest of Chatom. Lightning struck a house in Chatom. The house caught fire and was destroyed. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | - | High winds downed multiple trees. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | - | High winds caused damage to a roof in Chatom. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatom | - | Highway 45 closed near Chatom due to trees and power lines down across the road. |
| May 2001 | Hail | Chatom | - | Dime size hail was reported near Chatom. A funnel cloud was also observed. The funnel never touched down and quickly dissipated. |
| April 1997 | Hail | Chatom | - | Dime size hail was reported near Chatom. |
| April 1997 | Hail | Chatom | - | Dime size hail fell in Chatom. |
| November 1997 | Hail | Chatom | - | Dime size hail was reported in Chatom. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Chatom | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Chatom | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Hail | Chatom | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Chatom | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan | 2.8 miles | 12 | |
| Rutan | 3.9 miles | 14 | |
| Carpenter | 5.4 miles | 12 | |
| Hobson | 5.4 miles | 14 | |
| Yarbo | 5.6 miles | 12 | |
| Ellisville | 6.0 miles | 12 | |
| Laton Hill | 6.2 miles | 11 | |
| Tibbie | 7.1 miles | 14 |
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 Chatom | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67150 | 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 115982. 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.




