Gainestown, Alabama
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Walker Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36540. The Survey maps it on the Gainestown quadrangle.
On record in Gainestown
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
Gainestown Methodist Church and Cemeterylisted 1999
Gainestown Schoolhouselisted 1992
Wilson-Finlay Houselisted 1978
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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.
- 1953 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Gainestown quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Atmore quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
105 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 105 fires within 5 miles of Gainestown between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,145 acres in total. None started naturally. 38 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 | 38 |
| Debris and open burning | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2002 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | SWR-20140919-001 |
| 14 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 9.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190914-4 |
| 17 August 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20200817-3 |
| 3 July 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160703-4 |
| 5 June 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | SWR-20130605-001 |
| 24 June 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 12 June 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | GAINSTOWN ROAD, AL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
6 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gainestown in 6 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF2) | Gainestown | $145,000 | The tornado touched down taking a large section of roof off of a wood frame single story home near the center of circulation, pulling a single-wide mobile home off of its foundation on the north side of the circulation, and lifting off the roof of a nearby double-wide mobile home on the south side of the circulation. The tornado circulation quickly widened to 200 yards and strengthened, rolling another single-wide mobile home 60 yards then causing it to disintegrate as it hit a large tree. The mobile home's bent undercarriage was left about 60 yards to the left of the tornado path. The tornado continued to the east and quickly lifted in a pine forest. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainestown | $30,000 | High thunderstorm winds blew down several trees near Gainestown, one falling on the roof of a house, producing damage. Half dollar sized hail was also reported with this storm. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainestown | $10,000 | Winds estimated at 70 mph blew a porch off a house on Walker Springs Road. |
| March 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainestown | $5,000 | A downed tree blocking the road at Walker Springs Road near Overstreet Grocery. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainestown | - | High winds caused damage to a metal roof of a home. |
| February 2016 | Hail | Gainestown | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barlow Bend | 3.2 miles | 7 | |
| Alma | 3.5 miles | 12 | |
| Manila | 4.6 miles | 7 | |
| Choctaw Bluff | 6.4 miles | 12 | |
| Rockville | 8.1 miles | 12 | |
| Walker Springs | 8.4 miles | 8 | |
| Suggsville | 9.9 miles | 7 | |
| Carlton | 10.7 miles | 11 |
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 Gainestown | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5517238 | The 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 156387. 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.



