Coker, Alabama
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1924 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Coker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35452. It stands on Nubbin Creek. The Survey maps it on the Coker quadrangle. 904 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 207 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresCoker fell from 979 to 904 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 | 979 | |
| 2020 | 904 | -75 (-8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 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.
- 1924 USGS Tuscaloosa quadrangle1:62500
- 1926 USGS Tuscaloosa quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Coker quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1984 USGS Tuscaloosa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
69 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of Coker between 1994 and 2017, burning about 434 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 11 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 | 24 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | NWR-20130915-001 |
| 22 August 2008 | Debris and open burning | 3.8 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | COUNTY ROAD 19, AL |
| 22 August 2006 | Natural | 30 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 August 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
24 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Coker in 24 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood. The reports record 3 deaths and 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2022 | Flash Flood | Coker | 3 killed | Significant flooding across the city of Tuscaloosa and surrounding communities. Water rescues performed at several residences along Hunter Creek and vehicles submerged. Three fatalities in a submerged vehicle, one male and two females. The vehicle they were riding in left the roadway and into drainage ditch near the intersection of Main Street NE and 19TH Street NE. |
| January 1997 | Tornado (F2) | Coker | 1 hurt, $85,000 | no account filed |
| February 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | 1 hurt | A large tree fell onto a manufactured home on Truman Lane in Coker, resulting in an injury. |
| June 2021 | Flash Flood | Coker | $3,350,000 | Heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Depression Claudette produced widespread flooding across Tuscaloosa County. Many homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Flooding destroyed 5 homes and severely damaged 38 in Northport and Tuscaloosa. One-hundred people were displaced when the Willowbrook Trailer Park in Northport was severely flooded. Residential and infrastructure damage between the two cities reached $3.35 million. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | $5,000 | Numerous trees were blown down around the city of Coker. |
| November 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | $5,000 | Several trees were blown down across the county, including near Coker, Northport, Lake Tuscaloosa, and Northport. |
| October 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down along Highway 140. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | $2,000 | A few large trees were blown down on Lake Lurleen Road. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Coker | - | Quarter-size hail report from image relayed via broadcast media. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Several trees were uprooted in the Coker area. |
| April 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Several trees uprooted on Romulus Road. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Approximately 50 trees were uprooted or snapped along Upper Columbus Rd and near Lake Lurleen. Several buildings in the area sustained minor to moderate damage due to strong winds or falling trees. The steeple of a church was also blown down. |
| May 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Numerous large trees with diameters around 18 inches were uprooted. |
| January 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Trees were reported down along Romulus Road near Sipsey Valley High School. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Several trees were uprooted at the junction of Romulus Road and Highway 82. |
| January 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | Trees reported down on Romulus Rd. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coker | - | A tree was blown down, destroying a fence. |
| March 2005 | Hail | Coker | - | Penny size hail was observed near the Montgomery community. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Coker | - | Quarter size hail was reported near Coker. |
| September 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Coker | - | A brief and weak tornado touched down right in Lake Lurleen at approximately 614 PM CDT. The short lived tornado was visible to many people and was captured on camera as it pulled water up and out of the lake. The tornado quickly dissipated a few yards into the rural countryside. This tornado developed from the same parent thunderstorm that produced tornado three in Buhl. The tornado damage path was 0.10 miles long and was 25 yards wide at its widest point. This tornado was produced by the remnants of Hurricane Rita. Begin/End: 33 17.93/87 40.48 |
| May 2003 | Hail | Coker | - | Nickel size hail was reported in Coker. |
| May 1995 | Hail | Coker | - | Dime-size hail was reported by a citizen in Coker, just west of Tuscaloosa. Heavy rain was also reported in Northport where water covered several roads at one point. Minor flooding was reported along Hunter Creek that affected traffic and threatened the Willow Brook Trailer Park. |
| March 2019 | Hail | Coker | - | no account filed |
| March 2015 | Hail | Coker | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Circle | 0.1 miles | 15 | |
| Coker Heights | 0.4 miles | 15 | |
| Westhill | 0.4 miles | 18 | |
| Westland | 0.7 miles | 15 | |
| Valliwood | 1.1 miles | 15 | |
| Bel Air Estates | 1.1 miles | 18 | |
| Lurleen Estates | 1.3 miles | 15 | |
| Forest Green | 1.5 miles | 15 |
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 Coker | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q985680 | 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 116371. 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.






