Gainesville, Alabama
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gainesville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35464. It stands on Folsum Branch. The Survey maps it on the Gainesville quadrangle. 172 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 128 feet above sea level.
On record in Gainesville
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 8 records
Coffin Shoplisted 1985
Gainesville Historic Districtlisted 1985
Gibbs Houselisted 1985
Main-Yankee Street Historic Districtlisted 1985
Col. Green G. Mobley Houselisted 1982- Colgin Hilllisted 1985
- Park and Bandstandlisted 1985
- Laura Watson Houselisted 1985
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Tutwiler Bridge, Spanning Tombigbee River on Alabama State Highway 9, Gainesvillefederal building survey, 8 photographs
Population over time
4 figuresGainesville fell from 1,500 to 172 between 1850 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 1,500 | |
| 2000 | 220 | |
| 2010 | 208 | -12 (-5%) |
| 2020 | 172 | -36 (-17%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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 Meridian quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Meridian quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Meridian quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS De Kalb quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Photographs
1 photograph,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.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
34 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 34 fires within 5 miles of Gainesville between 1996 and 2018, burning about 253 acres in total. None started naturally. 11 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/undetermined | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160921-6 |
| 18 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 August 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 August 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 12 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 July 1996 | Smoking | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Gainesville: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silica, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnston Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Swilley's Bend Quarry | Silica, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Quartz |
Storms near this place
9 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gainesville in 9 storm reports between 1999 and 2022: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainesville | $3,000 | A few trees were blown down between Gainsville and Geiger. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainesville | - | Several trees uprooted along Highway 39 near Williams Road. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainesville | - | Multiple trees uprooted and power lines downed in the city of Gainesville. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainesville | - | Several trees uprooted in the town of Gainesville. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gainesville | - | Several trees uprooted in the town of Gainesville. |
| February 2007 | Hail | Gainesville | - | Reported south of Gainsville along SR 39. |
| December 2000 | Hail | Gainesville | - | Dime size hail was reported at the Gainesville Lock and Dam on the Tombigbee River. The hail lasted around 5 minutes and then crossed the river. |
| March 1999 | Hail | Gainesville | - | Dime sized hail reported in Gainesville. |
| February 2004 | Hail | Gainesville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamner | 7.9 miles | 8 | |
| Warsaw | 8.4 miles | 8 | |
| Geiger | 8.4 miles | 8 | |
| Sumterville | 8.6 miles | 13 | |
| Bethel (historical) | 9.0 miles | 8 | |
| Epes | 9.2 miles | 13 | |
| Fair Oaks | 9.5 miles | 8 | |
| Emelle | 10.4 miles | 8 |
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 Gainesville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67505 | 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 157962. 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.




