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Gardendale, Alabama

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gardendale census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35071. The Survey maps it on the Gardendale quadrangle. 16,044 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.

Gardendale within Jefferson County

Population over time

2 figures

Gardendale grew from 13,893 to 16,044 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
201013,893
202016,044+2,151 (+15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 27 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

8 of 9 photographs shown, 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.

Rammed earth at Gardendale, Alabama
Rammed earth at Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Rammed earth house at Gardendale, Alabama
Rammed earth house at Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
House of Gardendale, Alabama
House of Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Barn constructed by rammed earth process. Gardendale, Alabama
Barn constructed by rammed earth process. Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Interior of house at Gardendale, Alabama
Interior of house at Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Detail of wall of rammed earth house. Gardendale, Alabama
Detail of wall of rammed earth house. Gardendale, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
Interior of a Gardendale Homestead, Alabama
Interior of a Gardendale Homestead, Alabama
Rothstein, Arthur, 1937. Library of Congress
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

Every photograph of Jefferson County

Fires near this place

109 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 109 fires within 5 miles of Gardendale between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,026 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 41 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/incendiarism41
Debris and open burning34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Natural4
Recreation and ceremony4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
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
5 September 1998Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190926-8
19 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190919-19
14 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1998Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2002Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
11 September 2002Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Gardendale: 3 occurrences, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron. 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
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

14 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gardendale in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2021: 8 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2006Tornado (F1)Gardendale1 hurt, $500,000The tornado touched down near the intersection of US Highway 31 and Main Street. It knocked a few trees down west of US Highway 31, then traveled southeastward and affected the business district along US Highway 31. A few dozen businesses were heavily damaged. The damage included significant roof damage, broken windows, large bay doors blown out, air conditioning unit damage and sign damage. Three vary large air conditioning units were blown off the roof of a K-Mart. These units were estimated at 5 to 8 thousand pounds each. A church along US Highway 31 suffered roof damage. Dozens of homes were damaged and numerous trees were blown down east of US Highway 31 in the vicinity of Tarrant Road and Peterson Road. One woman was injured when a tree fell through the roof of her home. South of Tarrant Road, the tornado mainly produced tree damage. The tornado lifted near Lumen Park and Taihaiti Lane.
May 2003HailGardendale$5,000no account filed
May 2003Thunderstorm WindGardendale$3,000no account filed
October 1999HailGardendale$2,000Quarter size hail fell in Gardendale.
March 2021HailGardendale-Quarter size hail reported in the city of Gardendale.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindGardendale-Numerous trees uprooted between Fultondale and Gardendale.
May 2003HailGardendale-Penny to quarter size hail fell in and around the city of Gardendale.
July 2002HailGardendale-Dime size hail was observed in Gardendale.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindGardendale-Trees were blown down on US 31 in Gardendale.
May 1995HailGardendale-Much of Jefferson County was affected by a strong thunderstorm with wind gusts to hurricane force and large hail. Dime and nickel-size hail was reported in Gardendale. Trees were downed in scattered areas especially across the northern two-thirds of Jefferson County. Trees were uprooted in Bluff Park, a tree fell on a car near downtown Birmingham in the University of Alabama at Birmingham area, and numerous trees were down in the Roebuck area of northeast Birmingham. All of the Birmingham television stations on Red Mountain were knocked off the air by the high wind and the large WBRC sign at Channel 6 was destroyed. The buildings at Channel 6 and 13 suffered minor damage. Most of the radio stations located along Red Mountain were also off the air for a period of time. More than 99,000 electric customers were without power after the storm. A security guard was injured when he was struck in the knee with a piece of flying metal. A woman had to have the tip of her finger amputated when the wind slammed a car door on her finger. A woman was injured at the Birmingham Zoo when a tree limb fell on her arm. Wind at the Birmingham Airport was measured from the northwest at 71 miles an hour at 1312 CST.
January 1995Thunderstorm WindGardendale-Trees and tree limbs were reported downed by the wind on the west side of Gardendale in northern Jefferson County.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindGardendale-Three-quarter inch hail covered the ground in Warrior. Trees about two feet in diameter were downed in Gardendale.
August 2007HailGardendale-no account filed
April 2001HailGardendale-no account filed

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
Mount Olive2.4 miles27
New Castle2.5 miles27
Cunningham (historical)2.5 miles27
Fieldstown2.6 miles27
Fulton Springs2.9 miles30
Frances Heights3.5 miles30
Walker Chapel3.7 miles30
Humoro3.8 miles30

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 GardendaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79679The 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 118823. 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.