Dawson, Alabama
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Geraldine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35963. It lies near Dugout Valley. The Survey maps it on the Crossville quadrangle. It stands 1,161 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 21 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.
- 1893 USGS Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Fort Payne quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1936 USGS Crossville quadrangle1:24000
- 1949 USGS Crossville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Crossville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Rome quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
93 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 93 fires within 5 miles of Dawson between 1997 and 2019, burning about 1,464 acres in total. None started naturally. 35 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 | 35 |
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190909-2 |
| 8 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 42 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160928-21 |
| 23 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 10 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160910-13 |
| 31 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160831-7 |
| 3 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | NOR-20150803-002 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Dawson: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collinsville Area, Unnamed | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Unnamed, Red Mt. Area | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite |
Storms near this place
15 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dawson in 15 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $10,000 | One tree was blown down and a barn had part of its roof removed near the Dawson community, 3 miles northwest of Collinsville. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,500 | A tree was knocked down onto a power line and onto the roadway at the intersection of CR 20 and CR 843. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down across the road at 84 CR 268. Time estimated by radar. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down at the intersection of Alabama Highway 68 and CR 57. Time estimated by radar. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $500 | A tree was knocked down at 961 CR 30. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | $200 | One tree was knocked down on George Cagle Drive. |
| June 2021 | Heavy Rain | Dawson | - | Sand Mountain Research Station (NOAA/HCN) measured 7.6 inches of rainfall. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Dawson | - | Flooding reported along County 192 just west of Dawson. Up to 3 inches of running water from a creek out of its banks is flooding CR 192. |
| April 2014 | Tornado (EF2) | Dawson | - | A tornadic cyclic supercell produced another tornado in the community of Dawson along County Road (CR) 20. Numerous trees were snapped and/or uprooted in this area. The tornado tracked north-northeast snapping additional trees along CR 199, and damaging a mobile home. Another home received minor structural damage along CR 196. The tornado fell a wide swath of trees before it crossed Highway 57. Here it reached maximum intensity (EF-2) with winds of 115 mph, nearly destroying a small home. Several large farm buildings were significantly damaged near the intersection of CR 204 and 57. The tornado nearly paralleled the highway as it tracked further north. Another home sustained roof damage along CR 57 as well. The tornado began a weakening phase north of the intersection with CR 204, with mainly tree damage noted north of that location. The tornado finally lifted just north of the intersection of CR 57 and 109. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Damaging straight-line winds knocked trees down and were blocking the roadways near the intersection of County Road 20 and County Road 843, east-northeast of Crossville. |
| April 2009 | Hail | Dawson | - | Penny size hail covered the ground in the Dawson community. |
| January 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | A line of severe thunderstorms knocked down trees in the Dawson area on county road 20. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Pieces of an old Billboard were blown onto the ground next to the Williams Service Station in the Dawson community. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Trees were blown down on County Road 57 near Dawson. |
| April 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dawson | - | Large tree and few power lines down. Reported by Marshall/De Kalb Electric Co-op. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholson (historical) | 0.7 miles | 21 | |
| Copeland Bridge | 2.2 miles | 21 | |
| Fairview | 2.4 miles | 21 | |
| Skirum | 2.6 miles | 21 | |
| Cotnam (historical) | 2.6 miles | 21 | |
| Hendrickville (historical) | 2.8 miles | 21 | |
| Wills (historical) | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| Homer (historical) | 3.0 miles | 21 |
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 Dawson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3709394 | 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 155048. 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.










