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Ethelsville, Alabama

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Ethelsville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35461. The Survey maps it on the Ethelsville quadrangle. 49 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 364 feet above sea level.

Ethelsville within Pickens County

Population over time

2 figures

Ethelsville fell from 81 to 49 between 2010 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
201081
202049-32 (-40%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 12 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

76 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Ethelsville between 1994 and 2019, burning about 600 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 14 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 burning22
Railroad operations and maintenance14
Arson/incendiarism14
Recreation and ceremony7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Natural5
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Equipment and vehicle use2

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
8 September 2013Arson/incendiarism28 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNWR-20130908-001
6 September 2002Railroad operations and maintenance48 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2000Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 1999Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2000Smokingunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 1998Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 1999Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pickens County

Storms near this place

23 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ethelsville in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 9 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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
March 2005Tornado (F0)Ethelsville$175,000National Weather Service Meteorologist surveyed the damage in Pickens County and determined a weak tornado occurred. The tornado damage was rated an F0. The tornado first touched down just west ofCR 75 near the Pine Grove Community. The tornado tracked east northeast through the Pine Grove Community, where one home suffered extensive damage from fallen and uprooted trees. The tornado continued almost parallel to Will Jones Road where two homes sustained significant damage. The tornado ended near the intersection of Will Jones Road and Moorehead Road just south of the McShanCommunity. Numerous trees were blown down or uprooted along the path and a few outbuildings weredestroyed. The tornado was on the ground from 954 pm CST until 1004 pm CST. The tornado damage path was approximately 7 miles long and 150 yards wide at its widest point.Begin: 33 20.544/88 16.529 End: 33 21.254/88 09.311
April 2010HailEthelsville$10,000no account filed
August 2010Thunderstorm WindEthelsville$5,000Trees down along County Road 30.
March 2006Thunderstorm WindEthelsville$5,000A few trees were blown down just south of SR 96 and Fields Road.
April 1999HailEthelsville$5,000Golfball size hail fell in Ethelsville.
December 2004Thunderstorm WindEthelsville$4,000Several trees were blown down between Ethelsville and Carrollton.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindEthelsville$4,000Several power lines were blown down along CR 75 near Ethelsville.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindEthelsville$1,000A few trees were blown down near the Ethelsville community.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindEthelsville-Several trees were blown down along County Road 75.
May 2025HailEthelsville-Quarter-size hail was reported in the Ethelsville area.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindEthelsville-Several trees were downed in the Ethelsville area.
May 2024HailEthelsville-Social media images showed quarter-size hail near Ethelsville.
June 2023HailEthelsville-Baseball size hail reported in Ethelsville.
April 2020Tornado (EF0)Ethelsville-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Pickens County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 75 mph.||The tornado formed near the intersection of Willie Wright Road and St Johns Road, about three miles south-southeast of Ethelsville. The tornado tracked northeast almost parallel to Willie Wright Road and dissipated near Mount Moriah Jones Road. Several large tree limbs and trees were downed along the path. The tornado affected mostly rural locations.
March 2016Tornado (EF1)Ethelsville-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Pickens County just north of Ethelsville and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF-1 tornado. Maximum winds were estimated to be around 95 mph. ||The tornado touched down near County Road 75 just south of Highway 34. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along County Road 75, and there was some minor roof and siding damage to a single residence. The tornado tracked east-northeast in an area that was not accessible by vehicle. The next damage area was along Mineral-Springs Church Road just south of Highway 34, where numerous trees were uprooted and snapped. The tornado continued eastward along Highway 34 and produced loss of shingles to a home and destroyed several outbuildings. The tornado crossed Shockley Road and produced considerable damage to a metal roof of a wood framed home and damage to several outbuildings. The tornado lifted just east of this damage.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindEthelsville-Several trees and powerlines were blown down in the town of Ethelsville.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindEthelsville-A self standing cell tower was knocked down along with approximately 100 trees in the Mcshan and Coal Fire Communities.
March 2005HailEthelsville-A supercell thunderstorm moved across central Pickens County and produced hail along most of its path. The hail size ranged from dime to nickel size and covered the ground in several locations.
March 2005HailEthelsville-Penny size hail was reported west of Ethelsville near the Alabama and Mississippi state line.
October 2004HailEthelsville-Penny to nickle size hail fell across western Pickens County near the Pine Grove and Macedonia communities.
November 2002Tornado (F0)Ethelsville-An F1 tornado moved out of Mississippi into Alabama about 4.3 miles west-southwest of Ethelsville. The weak tornado was the fifth tornado of the evening in Alabama and moved across mostly wooded and clear cut areas downing a few trees. The tornado damage in Alabama was only F0.Beg: 33 24.268/88 17.425 End: 33 24.682/88 15.352
November 2001Funnel CloudEthelsville-Numerous public reports of funnel clouds were received in extreme northern Pickens County, just north of Ethelsville.
July 1995HailEthelsville-Hail the size of dimes was reported three miles west of Ethelsville in extreme western Pickens County.

Every storm recorded in Pickens 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
Macedonia1.9 miles12
Stafford2.6 miles12
Delma2.7 miles12
McShan4.6 miles12
Pine Grove4.8 miles11
Liberty4.8 miles12
Melrose5.5 miles12
Forest6.1 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 EthelsvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66990The 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 118045. 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.