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Clanton, Alabama

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Clanton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35045. It stands on Black Snake Creek. The Survey maps it on the Clanton West quadrangle. 8,768 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 600 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Clanton within Chilton County

On record in Clanton

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

3 figures

Clanton grew from 623 to 8,768 between 1890 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
1890623
20108,619
20208,768+149 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 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

269 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 269 fires within 5 miles of Clanton between 1994 and 2019, burning about 843 acres in total. None started naturally. 32 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 burning118
Missing data/not specified/undetermined73
Arson/incendiarism32
Recreation and ceremony24
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Equipment and vehicle use7
Smoking5
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1

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
7 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2019Debris and open burning13 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190906-6
29 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission20190929-6
29 September 2007Debris and open burning6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2004Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2004Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2004Arson/incendiarism4.1 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Chilton County

Storms near this place

42 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clanton in 42 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 24 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 3 lightning, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 1996Tornado (F0)Clanton$200,000no account filed
January 1998Thunderstorm WindClanton$90,000What was believed to be a downburst damaged a number of structures and downed trees and power lines in central Chilton County between Clanton and Thorsby around New Salem Church and Collins Chapel. Two mobile homes were destroyed, five mobile homes were damaged, at least eight permanent homes were damaged, two vehicles were damaged, and a number of trees were down. Three poles along a major power line were also downed forcing US 31 traffic to be rerouted for several hours. The damage area was surveyed by NWS meteorologists and the damage pattern was consistent with straight-line wind.
March 2010Tornado (EF1)Clanton$35,000The tornado touched down just northwest of the city limits of Clanton, near the intersection of CR-406 and CR-53. From there it moved east-northeast into the northern part of the city, and lifted just after crossing US-31 west of the hospital. At least five structures received damage, with much of it consisting of shingles being blown off. One garage and a gazebo were heavily damaged, and one large storage building was totally destroyed with debris scattered nearly 1 1/2 miles downstream. Eight to 10 hardwood trees were uprooted and 6 to 9 smaller hard and soft wood trees were snapped.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindClanton$25,000The roof of a storage trailer was blown off, a tree fell on a car, and a wooden storage shed was destroyed.
February 1996Thunderstorm WindClanton$25,000no account filed
March 2000Thunderstorm WindClanton$20,000A few trees were blown down in and around the city of Clanton. One tree fell on a home in Clanton, causing moderate roof damage. One light pole was knocked over in the Chilton Mart Shopping Center.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindClanton$15,000no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindClanton$12,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindClanton$10,000Several trees and power lines were down in Clanton, leaving about 5000 people without power for several hours.
May 1996HailClanton$10,000no account filed
March 2005Thunderstorm WindClanton$8,000Trees and power lines were blown down in the Fairview area.
August 1998HailClanton$8,000no account filed
April 2005HailClanton$6,000Golf ball size hail was reported by Alabama State Troopers south of Clanton.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindClanton$6,000Pea size hail was reported in Clanton. A few trees were also blown down in Clanton, and one home had it's car port torn off.
August 1997LightningClanton$6,000Lightning struck Adair Middle School's chimney and knocked out the schools intercom system and all but one of the schools phones.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindClanton$5,000Several trees were blown down throughout central Chilton County.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindClanton$5,000Shingles were blown off the roof of a motel.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindClanton$5,000Several trees were blown down near Clanton. The storm also caused some minor street flooding in Clanton but all roads remained passable.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindClanton$5,000Trees were down along Hwy 22, near the Coosa county line.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindClanton$5,000Trees were down along Hwy 145, north of Clanton.
August 2003LightningClanton$3,000Lightning apparently struck two houses about 600 yards apart in Clanton on 7th Street North and 10th Street North during a thunderstorm. Damage was believed to be minimal.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindClanton$3,000Trees and power lines were knocked down just south of Clanton. A few trees and power lines were also knocked down near Verbena.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindClanton$3,000Several trees were blown down near mile marker 210 on Interstate 65.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindClanton$2,000Trees were blown down in Clanton on Highway 22 between 10th and 11th Streets.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindClanton$2,000Trees were blown down and blocked AL-22, just west of the Clanton city limits. The blocked road caused a traffic accident, but there were no injuries. Time estimated.
August 2003LightningClanton$2,000The Enterprise Fire Department was dispatched to the 2000 block of CR 431 to investigate smoke in a house after it was apparently struck by lightning.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindClanton$1,000A few trees were knocked down in Clanton.
January 2000Thunderstorm WindClanton$1,000Trees were blown down along SR 22 near Clanton.
April 2022HailClanton-Several reports of quarter size hail in Clanton.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindClanton-Multiple reports of uprooted trees in the city of Clanton.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindClanton-Several trees uprooted in the city of Clanton.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindClanton-Several trees uprooted in the city of Clanton.
March 2019Thunderstorm WindClanton-Several trees uprooted and large section of a roof torn off a building in downtown Clanton.
February 2005HailClanton-Penny size hail was reported just outside Clanton near CR 37.
March 2005HailClanton-Penny size hail was observed just west of Clanton.
June 1999HailClanton-Dime size was reported near Clanton.
April 1998HailClanton-Dime size hail was reported in Pleasant Grove.
February 1998HailClanton-Dime size hail was reported near Hill Trinity Church west of Clanton.
March 2021HailClanton-no account filed
April 2007HailClanton-no account filed
April 2006HailClanton-no account filed
April 2004HailClanton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Chilton 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
Samaria1.4 miles14
Falakto3.0 miles15
Lomax3.2 miles15
Highland3.9 miles14
Gap of the Mountain5.1 miles15
Cooper6.2 miles15
Fairview6.6 miles14
Kincheon6.8 miles14

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 ClantonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79364The 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 157918. 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.

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.