Clay, Alabama
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Clay census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35126. It lies near Praytor Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Argo quadrangle. 10,291 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 935 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresClay grew from 9,708 to 10,291 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 | 9,708 | |
| 2020 | 10,291 | +583 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 27 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.
- 1889 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1905 USGS Leeds quadrangle1:62500
- 1907 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1907 USGS Leeds quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Argo quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1975 USGS Argo quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
125 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Clay between 1994 and 2019, burning about 1,303 acres in total. None started naturally. 42 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 | 54 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 42 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 18 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 August 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 August 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 August 2007 | 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
10 of 31 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 31 workings within 5 miles of Clay: 25 occurrences, 3 unknowns, 2 past producers, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Iron, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Pinson Mines | Iron, Manganese | Past Producer | Goethite | |
| Blount Mountain Area | Iron | Unknown | ||
| D P Anderson Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| J O Norris Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Mt. Pinson Mines | Iron | Past Producer | Residual | |
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
11 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clay in 11 storm reports between 2008 and 2020: 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF1) | Clay | $105,000 | This tornado touched down in eastern Jefferson County and moved northeast through portions of St. Clair, Calhoun, Etowah and Cherokee Counties, before it moved into Georgia, across Polk, Floyd and Bartow (See Storm Data Peachtree City) Counties. This tornado touched down 3.5 miles north northeast of Trussville, east of Deerfoot Parkway and west of Interstate 59. The tornado caused mostly tree damage with winds of 95 mph, an EF1 rating, as it moved east. The tornado crossed Interstate 59 near Argo and moved into St. Clair County. ||This tornado was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that began in Newton County Mississippi at 13:54 pm CST, finally dissipating in Macon County, North Carolina at approximately 21:18 pm CST. This supercell spawned several strong to violent tornadoes along its long path, which included another violent EF4 tornado that crossed portions of Tuscaloosa and western suburbs of the Birmingham. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | $3,000 | Several trees were uprooted along and north of Old Springville Road, westward to near the county line. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | $3,000 | Several trees blown down between Pinson and Clay. A few of the trees blocked the road. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down, between Pinson and Clay. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | - | Several trees uprooted in the city of Clay. |
| September 2014 | Flash Flood | Clay | - | Water flowing over Trussville Clay Road was reaching the bottom car doors. |
| March 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | - | Trees reportedly fell on a house on Self Creek Road in Center Point. Additional trees were reported down on Clayton Road and Old Springville Road in Clay. |
| March 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | - | Trees and powerlines were reported down. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clay | - | Winds were estimated around 65 mph in Clay. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Clay | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Clay | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederate Estates | 0.8 miles | 27 | |
| Eagle Ridge | 1.0 miles | 27 | |
| Sunnyside | 1.1 miles | 27 | |
| Countryside Estates | 1.1 miles | 27 | |
| Near Acres Estates | 1.1 miles | 27 | |
| Candlewood Lakes | 1.4 miles | 27 | |
| Heatherwood | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Dogwood Estates | 2.5 miles | 27 |
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 Clay | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q79472 | 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 116194. 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.











