BlockBefore

Cottonwood, Alabama

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cottonwood census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36320. The Survey maps it on the Cottonwood quadrangle. 1,048 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 164 feet above sea level.

Cottonwood within Houston County

Population over time

4 figures

Cottonwood grew from 352 to 1,048 between 1910 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
1910352
20001,170
20101,289+119 (+10%)
20201,048-241 (-19%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

55 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 55 fires within 5 miles of Cottonwood between 1993 and 2020, burning about 460 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 4 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 burning23
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony5
Arson/incendiarism4
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Natural2
Smoking2

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
9 September 2019Debris and open burning6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190909-8
20 September 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresFlorida Forest Service32/SELLERS ROAD-0544
20 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFlorida Forest Service32/SELLERS ROAD #2-0547
18 September 1995Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 2010Debris and open burning19 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200804-2
29 August 2011Debris and open burning8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission18195 COTTONWOOD RD, AL
28 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission428 BUDMOORE ROAD, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Houston County

Storms near this place

45 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cottonwood in 45 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 34 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. 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
June 2002LightningCottonwood1 hurtA woman was injured when she was struck by lightning. Reported by the Houston County EMA.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$30,000One shed was heavily damaged and a mobile home's roof was damaged by flying debris. A few trees down. Reported by WTVY-TV meteorologist.
November 1998Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$30,000Straight-line winds downed trees and caused roof damage to a residence southwest of Cottonwood near the Florida-Alabama state line.
March 1996Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$30,000no account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$25,000Downed trees damaged two homes in Cottonwood.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$20,000A downburst associated with a collapsing thunderstorm produced a concentrated swath of wind damage in southern Houston county stretching about 2 miles away from either side of a roughly 6.5 mile long line from Cottonwood to about 3 miles east-northeast of Love Hill. Within this area, around 18 trees were blown down along with numerous power lines down, numerous utility sheds damaged, and a few barns damaged. Trees blocked roads in the following areas: Sweetie Smith Road, 1560 Kirkland Rd., Gene Terry at Nobles, September Rd, Womack Rd, 4763 S. Rocky Creek Rd., Hickory Grove at Co. Rd. 81, 1243 E. County Rd. 8, 172 Edwin Reynolds Rd., 591 Kirkland, and 435 Rooster. Trees fell on houses in the following areas: 188 September Rd., Cottonwood RV Park, and the 700 block of September Rd. Two chainsaw teams from Houston county were activated to clear roads. No injuries were reported. Monetary damage was estimated.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$20,000Downed power lines. A barn was destroyed. Reported by NWS Mobile.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$20,000Downed trees and roof damage just east of Cottonwood.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$5,000Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in the Cottonwood area.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$3,000Trees and power lines were blown down about 2 miles from Cottonwood.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$3,000The roof was blown off an unoccupied mobile home in Cottonwood and a sign was blown down. Monetary damage was estimated.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$2,000Trees were blown down. Monetary damage was estimated.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$2,000A few trees were blown down. Monetary damage was estimated.
March 2009Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$2,000Several trees and power lines were down in Cottonwood.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,500Trees were blown down along with hail of unknown size. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000Power lines were blown down around Cottonwood.
November 2014Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000A power line was blown down at the 6700 block of Cottonwood Road.
November 2014Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000A tree was blown down at the intersection of Womack and Hickory Grove Roads.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000A power line was blown down in Cottonwood.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000Large limbs and power lines were blown down about 2 miles northwest of Cottonwood. Monetary damage was estimated.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000Sheriff's office reported 2 trees down along Cottonwood Rd. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate.
April 1999Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$1,000Numerous trees down reported by county EMA.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$750The public reported a large tree down across a driveway about 3 miles north of Cottonwood. The report was obtained via facebook. Monetary damage was estimated.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindCottonwood$250A few trees were down.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-Trees were blown down in the Cottonwood area.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-Trees were blown down along Fletcher Smith Road at Metcalf Street near Cottonwood.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-Trees were blown down in the Cottonwood area.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A tree was blown down on McCoy Road near Cottonwood.
January 2022Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A tree was blown down in the Cottonwood area.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A tree was blown down across a road in the Cottonwood area.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-Numerous trees and a power line were blown down in the Cottonwood area.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A tree was blown down at the 14000 block of Cottonwood Road.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-Trees and power lines were blown down on the 1100 block of Cottonwood Road.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A tree was blown down in Cottonwood with no damage reported.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindCottonwood-A couple of trees were blown down in Cottonwood.
July 2012HailCottonwood-The public reported a hail size between dimes and quarters 5 miles north of Cottonwood. The report was obtained via facebook.
June 2004HailCottonwood-Penny size hail reported by the Houston County EMA.
July 2002HailCottonwood-Dime size hail reported by NWS Mobile.
July 2002HailCottonwood-Dime size hail reported by NWS Mobile.
June 2002HailCottonwood-Dime size hail reported by the Houston County EMA.
March 2000HailCottonwood-Dime size hail on Highway 53. Reported by the Houston County EMA.
April 1998HailCottonwood-Golfball sized hail reported by Houston County Fire Department.
May 1995HailCottonwood-Hail up to three-quarters of an inch was reported across the southern portion of Houston County.
March 2025HailCottonwood-no account filed
April 2021HailCottonwood-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Houston 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
Sealy Springs0.8 miles8
Terry Crossroads4.1 miles8
Hodgesville4.3 miles8
Madrid4.8 miles8
Love Hill4.9 miles8
Keytons5.4 miles8
Grangeburg5.7 miles8
Five Points5.7 miles8

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 CottonwoodAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q68127The 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 116695. 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.