BlockBefore

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.

Coker within Tuscaloosa County

Population over time

2 figures

Coker 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.

YearPeople Change
2010979
2020904-75 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

69 since 1994

Regional 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 burning24
Arson/incendiarism11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Equipment and vehicle use6
Recreation and ceremony5
Smoking4
Natural3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
5 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2000Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 1997Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNWR-20130915-001
22 August 2008Debris and open burning3.8 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCOUNTY ROAD 19, AL
22 August 2006Natural30 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 August 2007Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Tuscaloosa County

Storms near this place

24 since 1995

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2022Flash FloodCoker3 killedSignificant 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 1997Tornado (F2)Coker1 hurt, $85,000no account filed
February 2025Thunderstorm WindCoker1 hurtA large tree fell onto a manufactured home on Truman Lane in Coker, resulting in an injury.
June 2021Flash FloodCoker$3,350,000Heavy 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 2011Thunderstorm WindCoker$5,000Numerous trees were blown down around the city of Coker.
November 2006Thunderstorm WindCoker$5,000Several trees were blown down across the county, including near Coker, Northport, Lake Tuscaloosa, and Northport.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindCoker$2,000Several trees were blown down along Highway 140.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindCoker$2,000A few large trees were blown down on Lake Lurleen Road.
May 2024HailCoker-Quarter-size hail report from image relayed via broadcast media.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindCoker-Several trees were uprooted in the Coker area.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindCoker-Several trees uprooted on Romulus Road.
April 2014Thunderstorm WindCoker-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 2014Thunderstorm WindCoker-Numerous large trees with diameters around 18 inches were uprooted.
January 2013Thunderstorm WindCoker-Trees were reported down along Romulus Road near Sipsey Valley High School.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindCoker-Several trees were uprooted at the junction of Romulus Road and Highway 82.
January 2012Thunderstorm WindCoker-Trees reported down on Romulus Rd.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindCoker-A tree was blown down, destroying a fence.
March 2005HailCoker-Penny size hail was observed near the Montgomery community.
May 2005HailCoker-Quarter size hail was reported near Coker.
September 2005Tornado (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 2003HailCoker-Nickel size hail was reported in Coker.
May 1995HailCoker-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 2019HailCoker-no account filed
March 2015HailCoker-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Tuscaloosa 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
Pine Circle0.1 miles15
Coker Heights0.4 miles15
Westhill0.4 miles18
Westland0.7 miles15
Valliwood1.1 miles15
Bel Air Estates1.1 miles18
Lurleen Estates1.3 miles15
Forest Green1.5 miles15

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 CokerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q985680The 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.