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Fruitdale, Alabama

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Fruitdale census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36539. The Survey maps it on the Fruitdale quadrangle. 175 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 246 feet above sea level.

Fruitdale within Washington County

Population over time

2 figures

Fruitdale fell from 185 to 175 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
2010185
2020175-10 (-5%)

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

41 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Fruitdale between 1995 and 2019, burning about 1,131 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 13 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Arson/incendiarism13
Debris and open burning10
Natural1
Recreation and ceremony1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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 2002Arson/incendiarism60 acresMississippi Forestry Commissionnot named
30 August 2000Arson/incendiarism30 acresMississippi Forestry Commissionnot named
16 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
1 August 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined17 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 July 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMississippi Forestry Commission54
5 June 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresMississippi Forestry CommissionMS0 0808-4210605001
5 June 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresMississippi Forestry CommissionMS0 0808-4210605003
30 June 1995Debris and open burning20 acresMississippi Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

18 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fruitdale in 18 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 9 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 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 2018Flash FloodFruitdale$25,000Four to seven inches of rain resulted in the flooding of several roads across central and southwest Washington County. Some of the roads flooded include Highway 56 in Chatom, County Road 1 between Fruitdale and Chatom, and Highway 17 near Tibbie and County Road 8 near Deer Park.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindFruitdale$12,000no account filed
April 2003HailFruitdale$10,000Golf ball size hail fell from a thunderstorm near Fruitdale. The large hail damaged several vehicles and broke several windshields. The hail also damaged some roofs in the area.
December 2002Tornado (F0)Fruitdale$8,000A weak tornado briefly touched down near Fruitdale. Several trees were blown down.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindFruitdale$5,000Winds estimated at 60 mph blew down numerous trees across the area.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindFruitdale$5,000High thunderstorm winds blew several trees down in the community. Law enforcement personnel reported no structural damage from the fallen trees.
April 1998Thunderstorm WindFruitdale$5,000The third severe thunderstorm of the night again moved across the Fruitdale area. Several trees and power lines were blown down across the area. There was not as much damage with this storm as occurred with the first storm that had the large hail.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindFruitdale$1,500Several trees were blown down along U. S. Highway 45 from Fruitdale to near Deer Park.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindFruitdale-High winds downed trees and powerlines.
November 2022Tornado (EF3)Fruitdale-The tornado began near Highway 57 in Greene County where several softwood tree trunks were snapped. It continued on an east northeast track producing damage along Nursery Road. The track continued into Washington County Alabama. The tornado crossed Highway 45 and hit Fruitdale High School where windows were damaged along with roof damage to the school and nearby houses. Widespread tree and power line damage was also observed in the Fruitdale area. The damage in Fruitdale is estimated to have been in the high EF-1 range with winds 105-110 mph. The tornado continued northeast and strengthened as it approached Baxter McIllwain Road. This is where the tornado reached peak intensity. Based on the ground survey, a nearly 500 yard swath of major tree damage was observed with countless hardwood and softwood trees destroyed. The EF-3 peak intensity (140 mph) is based on this swath of major tree damage. The tornado continued to track eastward through Tibbie with more significant to major tree damage (EF-2 intensity), along with roof damage observed along Leo and Boyd Willie Parnell Road. The tornado weakened as it moved east across Howardtown Road and dissipated east of Clarke Place Road. The tornado path received many cosmetic changes based on high resolution Planet and Worldview satellite imagery. The peak width was updated to be 700 yards.
March 1999HailFruitdale-Golfball size hail was reported in the community.
March 1999HailFruitdale-Dime to quarter size hail was reported in the community.
March 1998HailFruitdale-Quarter size hail was reported just south of Fruitdale.
April 1997HailFruitdale-Dime size hail was reported along U. S. Highway 45 near Fruitdale.
May 2025HailFruitdale-no account filed
March 2005HailFruitdale-no account filed
March 2003HailFruitdale-no account filed
December 2002HailFruitdale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington 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
Four Point3.7 miles11
Escatawpa3.8 miles12
Yellow Pine4.5 miles12
Epworth5.7 miles12
Vinegar Bend6.4 miles11
Tibbie8.5 miles14
Burbank8.7 miles14
Uniform9.2 miles14

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 FruitdaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1273435The 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 118737. 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.