BlockBefore

Detroit, Alabama

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Sulligent census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35552. It stands on Reedy Branch. The Survey maps it on the Detroit quadrangle. 230 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 363 feet above sea level.

Detroit within Lamar County

Population over time

3 figures

Detroit fell from 247 to 230 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.

YearPeople Change
2000247
2010237-10 (-4%)
2020230-7 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 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

68 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 68 fires within 5 miles of Detroit between 1992 and 2019, burning about 796 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 16 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 burning17
Arson/incendiarism16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Equipment and vehicle use10
Smoking5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Other causes1
Natural1

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
3 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190927-10
27 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionNWR-20140927-003
2 September 2000Smoking1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
18 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.8 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNWR-20140915-002
10 September 1999Smoking35 acresMississippi Forestry Commissionnot named
31 August 2011Debris and open burning8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission2057 CR 19, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lamar County

Storms near this place

48 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Detroit in 48 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 29 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2004Tornado (F1)Detroit$300,000no account filed
May 2003HailDetroit$100,000Golf ball size hail fell in and near the town of Detroit. Several automobiles received broken windows and dents from the hail. The hail may have been larger in the surrounding rural areas. A few trees were also blown down in the area. Very little rain fell during the storm.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$20,000Numerous trees were blown down across Lamar County, starting near Detroit in the north, continuing through the city of Vernon, all the way to Kennedy in the south.
May 2003HailDetroit$14,000Golf ball size hail was reported from Detroit to Henson Springs.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindDetroit$7,000Numerous trees were blown down in and around Detroit.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindDetroit$5,000Numerous trees were blown down in and around Detroit.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindDetroit$3,000Numerous trees were knocked down along CR 16 just east of Detroit.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindDetroit$2,000Several trees down along State Highway 17.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$2,000A few trees were blown down near the Detroit community.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$2,000A few trees were blown down near the Henson Springs community.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$2,000Several trees were blown down in and around Detroit, completely blocking AL-17.
December 2004Thunderstorm WindDetroit$2,000Several trees were blown down just north of Detroit along SR 17.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindDetroit$1,000A tree was blown down blocking Highway 17.
October 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$1,000Several trees were blown down on River Road, in the northern part of the county.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$1,000Trees and power lines were blown down on CR-16, near Detroit.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit$1,000Several trees were blown down near Detroit.
December 2008Thunderstorm WindDetroit$1,000Several trees were blown down on AL-17, near the Detroit Community.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindDetroit$500A tree was blown down across AL-17, near the Fayette County line.
April 2026HailDetroit-Nickel-size hail fell in Detroit.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Trees and power lines were downed in the Detroit area.
February 2022Flash FloodDetroit-Multiple roads in the city of Sulligent impassable due to flooding.
March 2019Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees uprooted in the city of Detriot.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees uprooted in the town of Detroit.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees uprooted along River Road.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Numerous trees uprooted in and around the town of Detroit.
April 2014Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Numerous trees were blown down between Detroit and Sulligent.
April 2014Flash FloodDetroit-Two to three inches of heavy rainfall fell across Lamar County, resulting in many roads across the county becoming impassable due to water covering the roadway.
April 2014FloodDetroit-After heavy rainfall ended, waters were slow to recede. Approximately 20 roads remained impassable until Tuesday morning, April 8th.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees were uprooted in northern Lamar County.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees were blown down in Henson Springs.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Trees were snapped and uprooted along County Road 8 at Highway 17, with several people trapped in a storm shelter.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Widespread tree damage occurred along County Road 16 between Henson Springs and Detroit.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Many trees were blown down west and southwest of Detroit, including along Hatley-Detroit Rd and along Alabama Highway 17. This resulted in widespread power outages across the area.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Tin roofing was removed off a building in downtown Detroit.
January 2011Flash FloodDetroit-Several roads across the county were washed out or impassable.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindDetroit-A box truck was blown off of State Route 17, just south of Detroit.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindDetroit-Several trees were blown down in the Detroit community.
May 2006HailDetroit-Penny to golf ball sized hail fell for several minutes.
November 2004HailDetroit-Half dollar size hail fell near the town of Detroit in northern Lamar County.
April 1995HailDetroit-Quarter-size hail was reported by the fire department at Detroit in the northwest corner of Lamar County.
July 1995Tornado (F0)Detroit-A tornado was reported at Henson Springs in northern Lamar County. The tornado occurred in the open with no damage reported.
March 2012HailDetroit-no account filed
March 2012HailDetroit-no account filed
March 2012HailDetroit-no account filed
March 2011HailDetroit-no account filed
April 2011HailDetroit-no account filed
July 2006HailDetroit-no account filed
May 2003HailDetroit-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lamar 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
Henson Springs5.6 miles8
Pine Springs6.0 miles12
Sulligent8.9 miles12
Crews9.2 miles12
Beaverton10.4 miles12
Moscow11.5 miles12
Mansfield15.9 miles11
Bedford16.1 miles12

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 DetroitAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q68232The 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 117242. 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.