Ensley, Alabama
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Birmingham census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35218. It lies near Enon Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Adamsville quadrangle.
On record in Ensley
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 within a mile 6 records
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Fire Station No. 16listed 1990 · 0.5 miles away
A.D. King Houselisted 2008 · 0.6 miles away
Bank of Ensleylisted 1984 · 0.7 miles away- Belcher-Nixon Buildinglisted 2009 · 0.0 miles away
- Downtown Ensley Historic Districtlisted 2010 · 0.6 miles away
- Ramsay-McCormack Buildinglisted 2009 · 0.7 miles away
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Birmingham Southern Railroad Yard, Thirty-fourth Street, Ensleyfederal building survey, 7 photographs
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 28 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.
- 1889 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1904 USGS Birmingham Coal District quadrangle1:62500
- 1906 USGS Birmingham Coal District quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1906 USGS Birmingham Special quadrangle1:62500
- 1907 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Adamsville quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1975 USGS Adamsville quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1993 USGS Adamsville quadrangle1:24000
Photographs
4 photographs, 1937Taken 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.
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
90 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 90 fires within 5 miles of Ensley between 1993 and 2020, burning about 880 acres in total. None started naturally. 44 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 | 44 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 |
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160928-8 |
| 26 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190926-16 |
| 18 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 August 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 August 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 201 BATES DRIVE, AL |
| 23 August 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | ETHERIDGE DR, AL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 29 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 29 workings within 5 miles of Ensley: 14 past producers, 5 plants, 4 producers, 3 occurrences. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Portland Cement Company Plant | Stone | Plant | ||
| Birmingham Plant | Vermiculite | Past Producer | ||
| East Thomas Quarry & Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Wade Sand & Gravel Co. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Watkins Number 1 Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Birmingham Red Ore Dist. | Iron | Producer | ||
| Birmingham Red Ore Mines District | Iron | Past Producer | 1864, 1972 | |
| Green Spring Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Ishkooda Mines | Iron | Past Producer | 1863, 1969 | |
| Republic Steel/ Birmingham, Ala. | Iron | Plant |
Storms near this place
14 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ensley in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 4 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2009 | Flash Flood | Ensley | $10,000 | Heavy rains caused water to overflow several streets in the Ensley area. A vehicle became stranded in flood waters, near the intersection of 18th Street and Avenue V. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ensley | $5,000 | A large tree fell onto and damaged a home. |
| April 1998 | Hail | Ensley | $4,000 | no account filed |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ensley | $3,000 | Trees and power lines reported down in Ensley. |
| March 1997 | Hail | Ensley | $3,000 | no account filed |
| November 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ensley | - | Several trees were downed in the Ensley area, with at least one falling on a house. |
| March 2021 | Flash Flood | Ensley | - | Village Creek at Avenue W went into flood and several roads in the Ensley Community were flooded and impassable. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Ensley | - | Heavy rain fell over a 3 hour period, resulting in a rise in Village Creek at Avenue W in Ensley. The creek exceeded flood stage at 9:30 pm CDT and remained at or above flood stage until 11:15 pm. In 3 hours, Village Creek rose 7 feet. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ensley | - | A tree was blown down and fell on a structure in Ensley. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ensley | - | Trees and powerlines were downed in Ensley, along 19th Street. |
| March 2006 | Flash Flood | Ensley | - | Heavy rain caused Village Creek to go briefly into flood. |
| April 2006 | Flash Flood | Ensley | - | Village Creek rose above its banks, about one foot above flood stage. This caused water to cover the roadways near Vanderbilt and Tallapoosa Streets. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Ensley | - | Dime- to nickel-size hail was reported in the Ensley area of Birmingham. Trees and power lines were reported down in the Pleasant Grove area. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Ensley | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Italy | 0.5 miles | 28 | |
| Shadyside | 0.5 miles | 28 | |
| Ensley Highlands | 0.6 miles | 28 | |
| Frenchtown | 0.8 miles | 28 | |
| Sherman Heights | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Tuxedo Heights | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Village Creek Junction | 1.4 miles | 28 | |
| Central Park Highlands | 1.4 miles | 24 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 118003. 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.













