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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.

Clay within Jefferson County

Population over time

2 figures

Clay 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.

YearPeople Change
20109,708
202010,291+583 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 27 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

125 since 1994

Regional 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 burning54
Arson/incendiarism42
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Recreation and ceremony10
Equipment and vehicle use3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 1995Debris and open burning20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1995Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
18 September 2000Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 1997Debris and open burning7.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
30 August 1997Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 August 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
14 August 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 31 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mt Pinson MinesIron, ManganesePast ProducerGoethite
Blount Mountain AreaIronUnknown
D P Anderson ProspectIronOccurrence
J O Norris ProspectIronOccurrence
Mt. Pinson MinesIronPast ProducerResidual
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

11 since 2008

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2011Tornado (EF1)Clay$105,000This 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 2011Thunderstorm WindClay$3,000Several trees were uprooted along and north of Old Springville Road, westward to near the county line.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindClay$3,000Several trees blown down between Pinson and Clay. A few of the trees blocked the road.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindClay$2,000Several trees were blown down, between Pinson and Clay.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindClay-Several trees uprooted in the city of Clay.
September 2014Flash FloodClay-Water flowing over Trussville Clay Road was reaching the bottom car doors.
March 2013Thunderstorm WindClay-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 2013Thunderstorm WindClay-Trees and powerlines were reported down.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindClay-Winds were estimated around 65 mph in Clay.
June 2020HailClay-no account filed
June 2008HailClay-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Confederate Estates0.8 miles27
Eagle Ridge1.0 miles27
Sunnyside1.1 miles27
Countryside Estates1.1 miles27
Near Acres Estates1.1 miles27
Candlewood Lakes1.4 miles27
Heatherwood2.4 miles28
Dogwood Estates2.5 miles27

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 ClayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79472The 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.