Courtland, Alabama
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Town Creek-Courtland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35618. It stands on Schoolhouse Branch. The Survey maps it on the Courtland quadrangle. 583 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 571 feet above sea level.
On record in Courtland
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 6 records
Boxwood Plantation Slave Quarterlisted 2013
Bride's Hilllisted 1986
Courtland Historic Districtlisted 1991
Courtland Historic District (Boundary Increase)listed 1998
John McMahon Houselisted 1987
Joseph Wheeler Plantationlisted 1977
Surveyed buildings and structures 3 records
- Bride's Hill, County Road 43, Courtlandfederal building survey, 1 photograph
- Campbell House, State Highway 20, Tennessee Street, Courtlandfederal building survey, 5 photographs
- Rocky Hill, State Highway 20, Courtlandfederal building survey, 8 photographs
Population over time
3 figuresCourtland fell from 769 to 583 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 769 | |
| 2010 | 609 | -160 (-21%) |
| 2020 | 583 | -26 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 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.
- 1936 USGS Courtland quadrangle1:24000
- 1951 USGS Courtland quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Courtland quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Photographs
6 photographs, 1939Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1939. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1939. Library of Congress
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1939. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
103 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 103 fires within 5 miles of Courtland between 1994 and 2019, burning about 1,979 acres in total. None started naturally. 50 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 50 |
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Other causes | 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 1998 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 September 1999 | Smoking | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 45 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 August 1999 | Smoking | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 August 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 August 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
40 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Courtland in 40 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds snapped and knocked down six large wooden power poles. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $10,000 | A few trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $10,000 | A few trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $8,000 | Trees and powerlines were reported down off of Jessie Jackson Parkway. |
| May 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $8,000 | Trees and powerlines were blown down in the Courtland community. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $6,000 | Large trees were downed and hail the size of dimes was reported. |
| October 1996 | Hail | Courtland | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $4,000 | Trees and powerlines were reporte down in the northern portion of the Courtland community. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $2,000 | Trees were knocked down. |
| December 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down near Courtland and nickel size hail was also reported. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $1,000 | A few trees and power lines were knocked down along Monroe Street in Courtland. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $1,000 | Power lines were knocked down on CR 150. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down onto a home in North Courtland. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | $500 | A tree and power lines were knocked down on Rosa Parks Street in North Courtland. Time estimated by radar. |
| December 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | Thunderstorm winds overturned an 18-wheeler on Highway 20 at the intersection of CR 150. |
| March 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | A measured 63 mph wind gust due to a severe thunderstorm at the Courtland, Alabama Airport. |
| March 2011 | Hail | Courtland | - | Nickel sized hail was reported. |
| September 2009 | Flash Flood | Courtland | - | Heavy rainfall produced brief flash flooding in the city of Courtland. |
| May 2008 | Heavy Rain | Courtland | - | At the Courtland historical climate network site, 4.84 inches of rainfall was recorded beginning Monday night and ending at 9:30 PM. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | Several trees were blown down on power lines causing power outages. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | Trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | Three trees were knocked down near County Road 150. One of the trees fell on a car and pulled a power line down. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Courtland | - | Quarter size hail was reported. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | Trees and powerlines were blown down. Time estimated. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | A tree was blown down on Airbase Road. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Courtland | - | Golf ball sized hail was reported. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | A tree and a few power lines were blown down due to thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | A large tree was blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2004 | Hail | Courtland | - | Penny size hail was reported. |
| February 2003 | Flash Flood | Courtland | - | Water over road on county road 150. |
| February 2003 | Flash Flood | Courtland | - | County road 150 flooded with a few outlying roads closed. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Courtland | - | golf ball size hail reported |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Courtland | - | large tree and three power poles blown down. |
| July 1995 | Hail | Courtland | - | Large trees were downed and hail the size of dimes was reported. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Courtland | - | Three-quarter inch hail was reported at several locations across Lawrence County. |
| December 2005 | Hail | Courtland | - | no account filed |
| December 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Courtland | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Courtland | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Courtland | 1.1 miles | 14 | |
| Terry Heights | 1.3 miles | 14 | |
| Courtland Downs | 1.3 miles | 14 | |
| Rocky Hill | 2.0 miles | 14 | |
| Rocky Hill (historical) | 3.1 miles | 14 | |
| Rigdom | 3.2 miles | 14 | |
| Wheeler | 3.4 miles | 15 | |
| Brides Hill | 3.5 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 Courtland | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67892 | 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 116739. 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.







