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Fairfield, Alabama

30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Birmingham census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35207. The Survey maps it on the Birmingham North quadrangle.

Fairfield within Jefferson County

On record in Fairfield

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 3 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 6 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 30 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.

Photographs

2 photographs, 1937

Taken 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.

The Eargle Family moving their household goods out of their home at Fairfield, Alabama. They will become homesteaders at Gardendale, Alabama
The Eargle Family moving their household goods out of their home at Fairfield, Alabama. They will become homesteaders at Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
U.S. Steel, Fairfield Works, Blast Furnace No. 8, North of Valley Road, West of Ensley-Pleasant Grove Road, Fairfield, Jefferson County, AL
U.S. Steel, Fairfield Works, Blast Furnace No. 8, North of Valley Road, West of Ensley-Pleasant Grove Road, Fairfield, Jefferson County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

57 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 57 fires within 5 miles of Fairfield between 1993 and 2019, burning about 830 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 20 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/incendiarism20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Debris and open burning11
Equipment and vehicle use4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Recreation and ceremony3
Smoking2
Natural2
Other causes1

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
7 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance7.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190926-8
24 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20150924-001
19 September 2007Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 2003Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission4309 SUNFLOWER STREET, AL
26 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 August 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission2386 CR 65, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Fairfield: 7 past producers, 3 plants, 3 unknowns, 3 producers. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Vermiculite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Birmingham PlantVermiculitePast Producer
Wade Sand & Gravel Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Citadel Cement OperationStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Dolcito QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
East Thomas Quarry & PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Hammond MineIronPast Producer
Hammond, Dago, Hendona, and Valleyview MinesIronPast ProducerHematite
Helen Bess MineIronPast Producer
Irondale MineIronPast Producer
Kewanaw MineIronPast Producer

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

10 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fairfield in 10 storm reports between 1995 and 2022: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1995Thunderstorm WindFairfield$65,000A wind gust to 60 mph was reported by a television station located on Red Mountain overlooking downtown Birmingham. The local emergency management office reported trees and power lines down around the city and county. In Irondale, the roof was blown off an electronics store. In Fairfield, numerous buildings sustained minor damage in the Fairfield Heights and Rutledge Hills areas. Glass doors were blown out and skylights were damaged at Western Hills Mall. A tree reportedly fell on a car in Ketona and the occupant was briefly trapped. Alabama Power reported 38,400 people were without power at one point. In Ensley, a man died in a house fire that apparently started when candles were used while the electricity was out. In the Leeds area, a woman was briefly trapped in her house when a tree fell on it.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindFairfield$30,000no account filed
July 2003LightningFairfield$12,000A store was struck by lightning in Fairfield. The store suffered minor damage.
April 1998HailFairfield$3,000no account filed
April 2008Thunderstorm WindFairfield$2,000Several trees were blown down in the western portion of the county.
July 2022HailFairfield-Quarter size hail reported in Fairfield.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindFairfield-Several trees uprooted and on a house in the city of Fairfield.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindFairfield-Several trees uprooted between the cities of Pleasant Grove and Farfield.
January 2013Flash FloodFairfield-The intersection at E.J. Oliver Blvd and Valley Road in Fairfield was impassable due to high waters.
May 1995HailFairfield-Dime-size hail was reported by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department at Fairfield.

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Vulcan City0.3 miles30
Harriman Park0.4 miles30
Douglasville0.6 miles30
East Boyles0.8 miles30
Village Creek0.8 miles30
Bendale0.9 miles30
Inglenook1.0 miles30
Vanderbilt1.1 miles30

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 118114. 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.