BlockBefore

Gaylesville, Alabama

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cedar Bluff-Gaylesville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35973. It stands on Chattooga River. The Survey maps it on the Gaylesville quadrangle. 170 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 594 feet above sea level.

Gaylesville within Cherokee County

Population over time

2 figures

Gaylesville grew from 144 to 170 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
2010144
2020170+26 (+18%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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

306 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 306 fires within 5 miles of Gaylesville between 1992 and 2017, burning about 4,800 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 216 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/incendiarism216
Debris and open burning54
Missing data/not specified/undetermined19
Equipment and vehicle use6
Natural4
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1
Fireworks1

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 2007Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarism9.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2016Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160929-23
25 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Gaylesville: 9 occurrences, 7 past producers, 2 prospects, 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
Gaylesville AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
J A Pilgrim Iron MineIronPast Producer
Rilgrim Land AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

20 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gaylesville in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 10 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 2 funnel cloud, 1 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
May 2003Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$10,000Trees were blown down and minor structural damage occurred near SR 35 and CR 925.
May 1998HailGaylesville$10,000Golf ball size hail was reported in Gaylesville.
March 1997HailGaylesville$8,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$5,000Several trees were blown down on near the intersection of County Road 91 and AL-68.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$3,000Numerous trees were blown down around Gaylesville.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$2,000Several trees were blown down near Gaylesville.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$1,000A tree was blown down across Highway 68.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$1,000Trees were blown down across AL-35 in Gaylesville.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindGaylesville$1,000Several trees were blown down in Gaylesville.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindGaylesville-Trees were downed on the north side of Weiss Lake and in the Gaylesville area. The roof was blown of chicken houses just east of Gaylesville.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindGaylesville-Trees and power lines were downed in the Gaylesville area, with one tree falling on a manufactured home.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGaylesville-Trees and power lines were downed in the Gaylesville area.
September 2022FloodGaylesville-Heavy rainfall along the Chattooga River basin caused flooding at several bridges and roadways near the river.
February 2005HailGaylesville-Pea to quarter size hail covered the ground around the city of Gaylesville.
April 2005Funnel CloudGaylesville-A funnel cloud was sighted near Gaylesville.
May 2005HailGaylesville-Nickel size hail was observed near Gaylesville. The hail completely covered the ground.
October 2005HailGaylesville-Penny size hail was reported near Gaylesville.
March 2003Funnel CloudGaylesville-A funnel cloud was reported near Gaylesville.
April 2009HailGaylesville-no account filed
April 2006HailGaylesville-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Mountain Acres1.8 miles20
Cornwall Furnace2.5 miles19
Grassland2.7 miles20
Lawrence2.8 miles19
Cornwall2.9 miles19
Sterling (historical)3.2 miles19
Hurley3.5 miles20
Farill3.7 miles17

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 GaylesvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q68252The 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 118879. 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.