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Forestdale, 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 35214. It lies near Cat Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Adamsville quadrangle. 10,409 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 646 feet above sea level.

Forestdale within Jefferson County

Population over time

2 figures

Forestdale grew from 10,162 to 10,409 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
201010,162
202010,409+247 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 28 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

158 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 158 fires within 5 miles of Forestdale between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,562 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 71 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/incendiarism71
Debris and open burning37
Missing data/not specified/undetermined23
Recreation and ceremony9
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Natural1
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
6 September 1998Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance7.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionPICKLE DRIVE, AL
29 September 2006Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2016Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160928-8
26 September 2019Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190926-16
24 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20150924-001

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Forestdale: 3 producers, 1 unknown, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
East Thomas Quarry & PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
UnnamedIronUnknown
Wade Sand & Gravel Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Jef 1 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Watkins Number 1 PitClayProducer

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

6 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Forestdale in 6 storm reports between 1994 and 2003: 5 hail, 1 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
April 2000Tornado (F1)Forestdale$150,000The tornado first caused damage just east of Minor Parkway and moved northeast along Crumley Chapel Road and through the Crumley Chapel community. The tornado crossed US 78 at the Wal-Mart shopping center and turned on a more easterly track through a residential area of Forestdale. The damage became less severe as the tornado crossed Cherry Lane with only minor tree damage from there to Coalburg Road.Damage along the track was primarily to trees with some minor roof damage to some houses. A number of houses along the path were severely damaged when trees, some quite large, fell on the structures. Beginning: 33 33.650/86 55.378 End: 33 35.341/86 51.737
April 2000HailForestdale$2,000no account filed
April 1998HailForestdale$2,000no account filed
June 2003HailForestdale-Three quarter inch diameter size hail was reported in Forestdale.
December 2000HailForestdale-Dime size hail fell in Forestdale.
March 1994HailForestdale-Trees and power lines reported down in Hueytown.

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
Forest View Estates0.7 miles28
Hillview0.8 miles28
Crumley Chapel0.9 miles28
Sunset Mountain1.0 miles28
Merrywood1.3 miles28
Westchester Estates1.3 miles28
Sandusky1.4 miles28
Westwood1.9 miles28

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 ForestdaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1268815The 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 118500. 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.