Chewacla, Alabama
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Auburn-Opelika census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36804. The Survey maps it on the Parkers Crossroads quadrangle. It stands 771 feet above sea level.
On record in Chewacla
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Chewacla Limeworks, Limekiln Road, Chewaclafederal building survey, 9 photographs
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 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.
- 1907 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:125000
- 1909 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Phenix City quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Parkers Crossroads quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Opelika quadrangle1:100000
Photographs
1 photograph,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
36 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Chewacla between 1994 and 2016, burning about 504 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 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 | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | ECR-20140926-001 |
| 10 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 3590 CR 38, AL |
| 9 August 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 August 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 31 August 1998 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 July 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 34 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Chewacla: 3 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Aluminum, Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinger Prospect | Gold | Occurrence | Gold | |
| Hilyer-Knight Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Kiln-Gilmore Dolomite Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| North Opelika Gibbsite Prospect | Aluminum | Occurrence | 1977 |
Storms near this place
5 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chewacla in 5 storm reports between 2007 and 2025: 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chewacla | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down along AL-158, east of Opelika. |
| May 2025 | Tornado (EF0) | Chewacla | - | A weak EF0 tornado embedded in a line of severe thunderstorms|occurred in the Salem area on the evening of May 3. The tornado|began over a wooded area east of Lee Road 151, northeast of the|National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) Test Track. The |1start point was estimated using radar data as the area was |inaccessible by roads. Moving slightly south of due east, the tornado |passed just north of Lee Road 2119, where a few small trees or |limbs were snapped on Lee Road 187. By this point a Tornado |Debris Signature (TDS) was evident on radar. On Lee Road 749, a |few small pine trees had the tops snapped or limbs snapped off. |Little damage was noted across Highway 280 near Dudley Lumber, |but more significant tree damage was noted on property just |northwest of Wacoochee Elementary School. Numerous trees were |uprooted and limbs were snapped across the property, in line with |the TDS on radar. One tree limb fell on part of a home, causing |very little damage. Tree damage continued to just northeast of a |large pond, where the track ended. NWS Birmingham would like |to thank Lee County EMA for conducting this survey. |
| October 2021 | Flash Flood | Chewacla | - | At least six inches of flowing water over Highway 280 near the intersection of Meadows Mill Road. Lee Road 215 and Lee Road 318 flooded and impassable. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Chewacla | - | Golf ball sized hail reported east of the town of Opelika. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Chewacla | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgewood Forest | 1.2 miles | 13 | |
| Hallway | 2.0 miles | 13 | |
| Crooked Creek | 2.2 miles | 15 | |
| Spring Villa | 2.6 miles | 13 | |
| Opelika | 2.8 miles | 14 | |
| West Ridge | 3.3 miles | 15 | |
| Rocky Brook | 3.6 miles | 14 | |
| Five Points | 3.7 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 Chewacla | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14679023 | 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 156176. 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.






